My Best Friend's Secret
by StillThereForMe
Summary: Chad and Troy have grown distant since Troy started dating Gabriella. While Troy feels guilty and tries to catch up, he realizes Chad's been avoiding him. How much does Troy actually know about his best friend...and how much can he handle knowing? Chyan
1. Blindness or Avoidance?

**Disclaimer**: I don't own High School Musical. Thus, Troy's life has been a whole lot easier.

**Pairing**: ChadxRyan, minor Troyella, Zekepay, Jelsi, extrememely minor Chaylor. (for now, pairings may change as story goes on)

**A/N**: I started writing this a while before I wrote "Explanations", yet it's taken me longer to finish for some reason. It was meant to focus on Chad and Ryan's relationship, but it ended up being much more about Troy and Chad's friendship (Troy's point of view is just easier for me to write for some reason...which is weird because he really isn't one of my favorite characters, nor can I relate to him eaiser either). Unfortunately, Troy is really hard to motivate, so it takes a bit of time to get to the actual slashy part (which was fun to write--though not _too_ graphic; detailed, but not explicit or anything). It was supposed to be a oneshot, but once again, I couldn't stop typing or just make it short...so I have the fic pretty much done, but I have to split it up so no one has to sit reading a 14 page story all at once.

The beginning is mostly guilt-tripping Troy...I guess I subconsciously just want to torture Troy for some reason...although I'm much nicer to him here than I was in my last fic (though Ryan's still a little mean).

Also: This fic was definately inspired by **SugarHighNutso**'s fanfic "Sick"--especially chapter 2! So thanks for the inspiration! And everybody go read it!

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**M****y Best Friend's Secret**

**Part 1:** Blindness or Avoidance?

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Troy and Chad had been best friends for what felt like forever. From finger painting stick fingers in kindergarten, to standing up to bullies in elementary school, and of course playing basketball together in high school, Chad was always there to back Troy up no matter what. The worst fight they'd ever had was over Troy's auditioning for the school musical without telling him, and Chad was supporting Troy again within a week anyway. That was the _only_, and the last time Troy ever kept anything from Chad.

Even after Troy's first date with Gabriella went amazingly well and Chad's date with Taylor was a complete disaster (aside from Troy and Gabriella, the two had virtually nothing to talk about or in common—in Chad's own words, "Taylor was too smart" for him), the two friends went out to shoot hoops to celebrate Troy's new relationship and forget Chad's train wreck of a date. Aside from some awkwardness at first, Chad got used to Gabriella hanging out with them more and more, and was even able to eventually rekindle his friendship with Taylor who often came with Gabriella.

Troy supposed, looking back, it was around then he and Chad started to become more distant and stopped coming to hang out with the rest of them as much. But being with Gabriella sometimes just made him forget everyone and everything else sometimes. He was in love, he couldn't help it! He must've not noticed who Chad started partnering up with when Troy paired with Gabriella on projects. It didn't make sense though: he noticed Zeke and Sharpay—although that may have been because Sharpay stopped hanging all over him and constantly flirting with Troy everytime they saw each other. But he noticed Jason and Kelsi too—though in retrospect, Jason _did_ keep asking him what kinds of gifts he thought Kelsi would like, what restaurant would be romantic but affordable, what clothes were date appropriate and what various "theatre words" meant that Kelsi kept using. But Troy even knew about that secret crush Taylor had which she refused to give anyone any hints about, although then again, that_ was _all Gabriella could talk (and cutely squeal at times) about for a week.

All of these changes and details within their group, Troy was able to notice despite his infatuation with his amazing girlfriend. Yet Chad, his _best friend_, just became a background figure whose gradual absence Troy didn't even question when the group got together. It was Gabriella who noticed the big haired boy's disappearance before him.

"I haven't seen Chad around lately." Gabriella turned and asked Troy suddenly while collecting books from her locker. "What's he been up to?"

"Oh, working on some project I think." Troy smiled sheepishly starting to drift off looking at Gabriella's pretty face—the necklace he bought her that she was _wearing_! Taylor had teased him once, saying that Troy was like a puppy dog who whenever Gabriella praised him was like she scratched him behind the ears, and you could sometimes see his invisible tail wagging whenever she smiled at him. He couldn't help it though; he _loved_ seeing Gabriella smile at him! Which she wasn't doing right now—right! She had asked him a question! "You know Chad, saves everything for the last minute: homework, studying, projects, schoolwork …work…"

"That's true," Gabriella giggled. "But wouldn't that mean he's actually been working an awful lot lately? I mean, he didn't go to the movies with us last weekend, and he missed Zeke's birthday too, didn't he? Although Sharpay didn't make it either, so maybe it was just a busy day…"

"He did?" Troy asked confused.

Gabriella's smile dropped. "You…didn't notice, Troy?"

"I uh, guess not…" Troy brought his arm behind his head, embarrassed and now worried.

"But Zeke made that big joke that he was going to have so many leftovers of that huge cake he made himself since Chad didn't show up it wasn't going to fit in his freezer…you really don't remember?" Troy just glanced at the ground. Gabriella reached out and touched his hand hanging by his waist. "You should talk to him. He's your best friend, right? You should know what's going on in his life. Oh! How about you invite him on our ski trip over winter break!"

"Your mom said it was okay to use your condo upstate?" Troy asked excited.

"Yes! As long as she can come with us, it's fine!" Gabriella continued happily, missing Troy's disappointed face—which he quickly covered with a smile when she looked up at him. "Oh! And I'll invite Taylor too! All of us can go together! I wonder if Kelsi knows how to ski…This will be so much fun!" Gabriella laughed and started off to go find her best friend, before freezing and quickly facing Troy again. "Don't forget—talk to Chad! And even if he can't ski, just tell him there'll be hot chocolate! He has to come!" Gabriella giggled.

"Right! I'll talk to him!" Troy nodded forcing a laugh and brought his hand down as Gabriella skipped off. "Now I just gotta find him."

Attempting to locate Chad was a lot more difficult than Troy had ever remembered it being. Chad was normally the one to catch him in the hallways or show up where Troy was headed. Troy didn't even know where to look for his best friend, and asking around Troy discovered no one else seemed to either. Zeke suggested the gym, and Jason recalled running into him at the snack bar one morning, but there was no sign of his friend in either of those places.

In class, Troy had moved his seats closer to Gabriella and Chad had apparently begun a habit of coming in late or barely on time for the period to begin, so Troy couldn't even show up early to try and catch Chad before class, and Chad seemed to still somehow be the first one out the door when every class ended—or at least that was the situation for the first several periods. He sat too far away to quickly pass Chad a note without getting caught and Troy didn't want to risk texting his friend (who might've left his cell in his locker which Chad was known to do). He couldn't even catch Chad's eye all class, which began to annoy Troy greatly. Every time he stole a glance in Chad's direction, the boy was either writing in his notebook (which confused Troy since he had never known Chad to be an avid notetaker) or looking at the wall. Zeke attempted to tap Chad on the shoulder to what Troy assumed tell him Troy was trying to get his attention, but ended up only getting yelled at by Darbus before he could say anything. Troy still attempted to get Chad to look at him, starting to believe that Chad had to have been purposely not looking at him because it didn't make sense that Chad _still _couldn't know Troy was looking at him. He must've had an odd look on his face, because he started to get several strange stares from people sitting around Chad, including one cheerleader sitting behind him who finally shouted "WHAT?" in the middle of the lesson, under the impression that Troy was giving _her_ the weird looks. It was after that Troy gave up catching Chad's eye.

It wasn't until free period that Troy got to talk to him, when Chad found Troy in the hallway while Troy was looking for _him_ in various classrooms.

"Dude, I can't make practice free period." Troy heard his friend's voice from behind.

"Chad!!!" Troy shouted in surprise as he spun around, receiving some strange looks from onlookers and Chad as well.

"…um, yes?" Chad answered, slightly scared of his friend's reaction.

"Sorry man, I've just been trying to catch you all morning, I didn't expect _you_ to find me." Troy laughed embarrassedly.

"Oh, sorry I didn't know." Chad smiled quickly. "Anyway, did you hear what I said? I can't make practice free period—or after school." Chad patted Troy's shoulder with a nod and started to walk off. "So, I'll see you around man!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Troy grabbed his friend's arm with a spin. "You can't just say that and walk off!"

"Why not?" Chad asked confused.

"Because!" Troy tried to explain. "You—I mean, I've been—and then you're—I mean—ugh! Why can't you make practice?"

Chad's face suddenly changed from a look of laid back confusion to surprised shock and some other emotion that took Troy a minute to register. Fear. His best friend looked scared of him, and obviously hadn't expected Troy to ask him why he wasn't going to be able to make basketball practice…Had they really grown _that_ far apart? Troy stared at the unfamiliar look on his friend's face, racking his brain to try and remember if Chad had made the last few practices—and his heart fell as he realized he didn't know.

"Chad!" A squeaky voice broke Troy's concentration and he turned to see a pink bedazzled Sharpay strutting up to the two in sparkly glittered high heels. She smiled and waved slightly. "Hey Troy," before turning to Chad. "Do you know where my brother is? I forgot to give him this sheet music this morning." She lifted a French manicured hand to show a small booklet of various songs.

"He's in the theatre—do you want me to give him the music?" Chad quickly offered eyes wide.

"Would you? Thanks a bunch." Sharpay smiled sweetly and handed over the booklet.

Chad tugged his hand out of Troy's grip and started to walk off before Troy quickly called out to him. "Wait! Chad!"

"Troy, I really gotta go!" Chad turned, slowly walking backwards down the hall and just missing crashing into a Skaterdude. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Chad!" Troy called, confused.

"See ya!" Chad shouted, and turned down the hallway out of sight. "I'll call you later!"

Troy stood in place, staring down the hall as if Chad would suddenly appear before him, laughing at successfully pulling a prank on his best friend. But he didn't. And after just one conversation—their first in who knows how long—he felt like he didn't know his best friend at all. Chad didn't keep secrets, he was horrible at it, and he didn't get scared talking to his best friend either no matter what it was about. He didn't skip basketball practice for anything. And since _when_ did he know where Ryan was when _Sharpay_ didn't?

This was the thought on his mind when he realized she was still standing there, in all her glittery glory. She smiled when she realized she had his attention again.

"_So_, what were you and Chad talking about?" Sharpay asked in a flirty voice Troy hadn't heard in weeks.

"Uh, he was saying he couldn't make basketball practice…" Troy trailed off. "Do you know why Chad—?"

"Oh right! Basketball practice, isn't that starting like, right now?" Sharpay quickly cut him off, and then smiled. "I just dropped Zeke off by the gym a minute ago. Want me to walk you there?" She grabbed Troy's arm and started pulling him down the hallway in the complete opposite direction Chad went.

"Um…okay…" Troy stuttered, unable to fight the Drama Queen's strength.

---

Chad didn't call him later. Troy kept his cell phone within hearing distance and constantly charged the entire day, and didn't receive a single text or anything from Chad. Gabriella called him to inform that Taylor and Kelsi could both make the trip, and told Troy to be "proactive" and call Chad—which Troy then did, but got no answer. He left a message reminding Chad to call him back. Chad didn't. He called Chad's house, and still got no answer, so he left another message.

He waited, and still got no call. Getting frustrated, he began to call all over: Zeke, Jason, and every member of the basketball team, cheerleaders, anyone who might know where Chad was. He didn't stop calling (too scared to leave the house in case Chad chose to call and he wasn't there) until Taylor informed him that it was 10:00 PM and she needed to get up early on Saturday for a Scholastic Decathlon meeting and needed her sleep.

Worried about his best friend, Troy stared at the ceiling in his bedroom, hoping Chad would get _one_ of his messages and call, until he fell asleep.

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Ah...Troy is so clueless. 

Slashy part comes next! As well as major embarassment for Troy! Please don't forget to review!


	2. Silence Speaks Louder than Words

**Disclaimer**: Still own nothing.

**Warning**: Here is the actual slash scene--this was the scene I was worried about for the sake of the rating. Now, since nothing graphic really happens, I don't think it deserves an "M" rating, you'll see worse things in PG-13 movies, however; I did go into a lot of detail at points, so it may _seem _more graphic than the typical "T" rated story. If someone thinks I should up the rating, just say so in the review and I will, because I wasn't 100 sure on this myself.

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**My Best Friend's Secret**

Part 2: Silence Speaks Louder than Words

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The next morning, Troy awoke and checked his voice mail and the answering machine in the kitchen, to find that no, Chad had not called his house extra late last night and Troy had not magically slept through the call. At a loss, he did what he normally when he was out of options—he texted Gabriella. His A-student girlfriend told him to just stop by Chad's house and talk to him face-to-face. He was grateful the advice came through text message, because although he loved her, Gabriella pointing out the obvious always made him feel like an idiot. Through text message, he at least didn't need to see her giggling at his lack of common sense. 

So he rushed over to Chad's house as quickly as he could, and was about to ring the doorbell when he heard faint arguing voices from inside the house. The voices turned out to be the only subtle warning he got when the front door suddenly opened just missing his head. The arguing voices immediately stopped a second after Troy jumped out of the way. Mrs. Danforth, who had swung the door open, turned surprised to face Troy.

"Oh! Troy, long time no see!" The overly friendly, energetic woman grabbed the basketball star into a tight hug. "What brings you here this early? I didn't see you standing there; I hope I didn't hit you with the door…"

"No, I'm fine Mrs. Danforth." Troy broke free of the hug smiling. "I just wanted to know if Chad's home?"

"If that blasting music is any sign, he should be up in his room and deaf," grumbled a very fatigued-looking Mr. Danforth, stepping out onto the porch.

"Oh, it's probably just his alarm. Knowing him, he probably just didn't remember to turn it off yesterday." Mrs. Danforth brushed off her husband, before turning back to Troy. "We didn't get home from our reunion party until late last night, so who knows what time that boy went to bed! Maybe his best friend stopping by will wake him up?"

"Right, the reunion party was _last night_, so remind me again where we're going this early in the morning, _today?_" Mr. Danforth muttered walking past his wife and Troy.

"It's a _full weekend_ party dear. We _had_ the option of just staying at the hotel like everybody else, but _someone_ insisted they wanted to come home each day instead, because they supposedly can't sleep anywhere but in their own bed!" Mrs. Danforth snapped loudly.

"Because I thought if we went home the first day, we wouldn't have to go **back!**" Her husband mumbled.

"What was that?" Chad's mother shouted, nearly taking away Troy's hearing and started to stomp past him.

"Nothing!" Mr. Danforth called back, throwing a backpack in the back of the car.

"I heard you say something, James!" Mrs. Danforth angrily yelled back, before suddenly turning back to Troy with a scarily sweet smile on her face. "Oh yes, and about that ski trip you were talking about on the message you left on the phone? Chad has full permission to go! He doesn't know it, because I didn't bother waking him up last night or this morning, I was going to call him later today. But he has it, and you can now tell him yourself! Now, go on inside Troy, you know where Chad's room is. Have fun! Oh, and help yourself to anything in the fridge!"

"Except my rhubarb pie!" Chad's father shouted from the car. "That's off-limits!"

"Troy can have _whatever_ he wants! And you're supposed to be on a diet!" The woman argued loudly back at her husband before turning back to and patting the teenager's shoulders. "Just wake Chad up!"

"Will do, Mrs. Danforth." Troy nodded. "Have a good time at the reunion."

"Ohhh!" Mrs. Danforth smiled widely and pulled Troy into another hug. "I missed you! Troy, you _must_ stop by more often. You're such a sweet boy!"

"Melissa! Let the boy breathe and let's get to that stupid hotel, so we can come back!" Mr. Danforth complained from now _inside_ the car.

"It wouldn't _kill_ you to have a better attitude about all of this you know!" Mrs. Danforth yelled, releasing Troy from her bear hug.

Troy took this opportunity to slip into the house, hearing the same faint arguing voices as he gently closed the front door behind him. He'd forgotten about Mrs. Danforth's monster hugs—which made all that guilt about accidentally ignoring Chad which he'd felt yesterday wash back over him. How long had it been since his last visit to Chad's house? Troy was well aware he wasn't the most observant person in the world—being around Gabriella constantly reminded him of how dumb he could be—but had their friendship _really_ become this distant just from Troy not noticing Chad as much? As guilty as he felt, Troy couldn't believe it was _all_ his fault.

Chad normally had no problem speaking up when he felt Troy wasn't being a good friend—or inviting Troy over to hang out after practice or over the weekend. Chad had _always_ been the more outgoing one, and _always_ the one to make up the plans. Troy normally just had to say yes and show up. Chad was obviously distracted by something else too. Whatever it was, Troy made up his mind he was going to find out now…as soon as he forced himself to walk up to Chad's room.

The house was a lot less messy than Troy remembered it being. The obstacle course of dirty clothes, sports equipment, magazines, and various food wrappers and cans on the stairs were severely easier to maneuver through than the last time Troy had visited. As he neared the top of the staircase, he could hear the pumping beats of some unrecognizable song coming from down the hall. There was no way even a heavy sleeper like Chad could be asleep with _that_ blasting music.

"Chad?" Troy shouted from the hallway outside his best friend's room, before he noticed something on the floor. It was Chad's cell phone in its clip-on case, which was normally attached to Chad's pants (outside of school and Chad's locker). "Well, that explains why he didn't answer my call…now why is it on the floor?"

Troy then froze at the next sound he heard even over the pumping music from inside Chad's room

"FUCK you're getting good at this!" A voice nearly screamed, and it was a voice that was definitely _not_ Chad's.

The next few minutes, Troy had an almost out-of-body experience, and felt like he was watching himself but not controlling his body. Some instinct took hold of him—one that Troy knew even as he moved he shouldn't be following—that made him suddenly stand and throw open the door to Chad's room. The blasting hip-hop music must have overpowered the squeaking of the door because the people in the room didn't pause in the slightest in what they were doing. And it took Troy's mind several moments to process what his best friend was doing.

For some reason, the first thing Troy noticed was Chad's earring. A small red teardrop hanging from his left ear, swinging back and forth slightly as Chad moved his head. Since when were Chad's ears pierced? Troy couldn't remember noticing before. He then slowly saw the pale hand pushing his best friend's curly hair back, gripping Chad's head and revealing his left ear and earring. Then the other pale hand and arm in stark contrast against the dark skin of his best friend's bare back. The hand seemed to be scratching up and down along Chad's body, before finally resting on the back of his best friend's black boxers, which aside from his necklace and the earring, Troy realized was the only thing Chad was wearing.

Chad's own hand was rubbing somewhere between the other person's legs that Troy couldn't bring himself to even begin to concentrate on, so instead brought his focus back towards his friend's face. It was fiercely nipping the other person's (and Troy suddenly felt sick as his mind slowly registered) very flat and pale chest, revealed completely unbuttoned black shirt. Chad slowly made his way up the other…boy's…neck, causing moans from that boy's small mouth. His best friend grinned at the reaction and moved towards the pale boy's ear, and Troy watched his friend's tongue come out and lick the obviously sensitive area.

The blond haired boy's head suddenly jerked in Troy's direction, eyes closed, groaning "You are such a fucking tease!"

His best friend chuckled, his dark eyes focused on the other boy's face. "And you love it."

The blond let out a frustrated groan and looked in the darker boy's direction with a smirk. "Asshole."

Troy watched, and had trouble recognizing the blond boy still, as well as breathing, as he flipped Chad and himself over, so the blond was now straddling his best friend's waist, still smirking.

"Payback time!" The blond muttered as he threw off the open shirt from his shoulders.

"Bring it on." Chad grinned and crossed his arms behind his head.

The agile blond leaned over and began kissing Chad's neck while pushing his chest as close as he could against Chad's. Troy listened as his best friend made sounds Troy had never heard and wasn't sure he had ever wanted to hear from his best friend's mouth. When Chad pulled the blond up level with him and crushed their lips together, Troy suddenly recognized the other boy. Ryan Evans. His best friend was lying on his bed, topless, kissing Ryan Evans.

It was when Chad's hand stared pushing back the elastic of Ryan's light blue pants, and pushing those hips together that Troy finally realized he was standing in Chad's doorway watching all of this.

"Oh my god…" Troy let out suddenly; and brought up a hand to push back his dark brown hair.

Ryan's body suddenly snapped up as far as Chad's arm on his back would allow and looked at the boy standing in the doorway, the familiar jock's voice apparently much more attention grabbing then the soft squeak of a door. Chad however, only stared confused at why the blond had broken their very enjoyable kisses, not yet noticing his best friend in the room.

"Troy Bolton?" The drama king panted glaring angrily at his direction, though his cheeks were blushed dark pink.

"Troy!" Chad quickly sat up straight, finally noticing the other boy. In his hurry to sit up though, the top of his head slammed right into Ryan's chin.

"Ow!" Ryan groaned, his hand grabbed the hurt spot on his chin and moved off Chad's lap and next to him on the bed.

"Uh…" Troy slowly stepped back, unsure what to do, a thousand thoughts flying through his brain, and his hearts beating faster and louder than the blasting music. "I'm just gonna…"

"Wait! Troy!" Chad shouted, holding his head where it had hit Ryan's chin and struggled to push himself up with his free hand.

Troy's body took control of him again and dashed down the hallway, ignoring Chad's calls for him to stop.

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Haha, awkwardness for Troy...that little vouyer..yes, I definately do enjoy putting him in awkward situations. He did have it a little too easy in the first movie I guess...maybe that's why. 

Anyway, don't forget to review!


	3. My Best Friend's Boyfriend

Disclaimer: Still don't own HSM.

A/N: Just couldn't stop typing and wanted to finish this chapter before I went to sleep...I spell checked and read through, but there may still be a few mistakes as it's 2AM right now where I am. I'm hoping there aren't, but it's possible. Please don't forget to review--and the slash scenes are not ending after the last chapter!

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**My Best Friend's Secret**

**Part 3:** My Best Friend's Boyfriend

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Troy's body took control of him again and dashed down the hallway, ignoring Chad's calls for him to stop.

He ran down the stairs, almost slipping on two of the steps, but managed to grab the banister just in time. When he reached the bottom of the staircase, he once again froze. Did he want to run out on Chad? What happened when he had to face him in school on Monday? What about the fact that he invited him on the ski trip? Should he cancel it then? Why was Troy even running?

Troy groaned in frustration and brought his hands to his head. Then, he realized he was still holding Chad's cell phone, which was blinking "1 New Voicemail." He wanted to call Gabriella, but then he would be 'outing' his best friend and he didn't even know what he'd say to her anyway. He needed to sit down and think.

Troy dragged his feet over to the living room, and fell into the faded red couch. He briefly remembered running over here after school all the time in elementary school, throwing his backpack on the couch to run outside with his best friend to play basketball or catch or climb up in the tree house they built in the backyard. He remembered every rainy day coming in soaking wet to play video games on the same couch for years until Chad's mom yelled dinner was ready or his dad came to pick him up. The couch was a brighter red back then.

He bent over and rested his hands almost like he was praying sitting down. He felt…weird. He didn't know what he wanted to do—go throw up in the toilet, go upstairs and beat Chad to a pulp, or just scream at the top of his lungs. The latter was winning, but Troy didn't even know what he'd be screaming. Ugh, he felt so stupid! He couldn't even figure out what he was feeling! And this was important—Chad was his best friend, right? He was getting a headache, but he ignored it best he could.

He was sad, but over what? His best friend being gay? Chad dating _Ryan Evans_? Chad not telling him…?

"Troy!"

Troy jumped at the sound of the voice and looked up to see Chad at the foot of the stairs, with that same sad and scared look he had yesterday when Troy wouldn't let him leave. Chad was dressed in worn jeans and a dirty T-shirt he probably picked up off the floor of his room. He looked more like the Chad Danforth that Troy knew, with clothes on.

"I was kinda scared you'd left," Chad continued when Troy didn't speak. "Not that I'm not glad, but why didn't you?"

Troy laughed dryly and looked at the turned-off TV across from the couch. "I needed to think?"

"Yeah," Chad laughed nervously in response, slowly walking towards the couch. "I guess it was kind of a shock."

"Yeah!" Troy nodded, eyebrows raised, but still not looking at Chad.

"…uh, mind if I sit?" Chad motioned to the couch.

"Oh, sure." Troy scooted over enough for his friend to sit next to him, with enough (and probably more) space between them.

An uncomfortable silence, that the two had never had to deal with between them before, stretched across them for the next few moments, before the outgoing Chad broke it again.

"So…is there anything you wanna say?" Chad looked at his unresponsive friend nervously. "Anything you want to ask?"

Troy glanced at Chad's face, his friend's dark eyes practically screaming 'please say something' at him. Troy bit his lip and thought hard for a moment. He looked back at Chad when he had a question.

"Yeah…" Troy replied slowly. "Where did you get the earrings?"

A much shorter and much more awkward silence passed momentarily, as Chad stared at Troy in shock, before the darker boy burst out laughing hard.

"_That's_ your question?" He asked between gasps.

Tension broken, Troy laughed at his own question, and much more comfortable. "Well, yeah! Since when are your ears pierced?"

Chad calmed down enough a few moments later to answer. "About a week or two now. Ryan got me the earrings as a gift."

"Oh…" Troy just smiled, nervousness slightly returned at the mention of the blonde's name, and at a loss for what to say. "They…um, look cool."

"Thanks," Chad softly replied, feeling the silence come again.

"What was that?" A different voice asked from the stairs.

Chad and Troy turned to see Ryan standing on the stairs, his button-up black shirt returned to his shoulders but still unbuttoned. His blue eyes stared distrustfully at Troy as he walked down the rest of the stairs and over to the other two boys. He sat on the arm of the couch as Chad's arm snaked around his slim waist.

"I heard my name." Ryan explained, eyes never leaving the uninvited guest.

"It's nothing. Troy was just asking about the earrings." Chad answered, rubbing Ryan's side.

"Why? Does he want a pair?" Ryan asked sarcastically, with a smirk. "Sorry Troy, they're not your color."

Chad laughed nervously and held up his index finger, mumbling "one minute!" to Troy before pulling Ryan over to the other side of the room. Chad spoke about something Troy couldn't hear with Ryan, and looked like they were arguing, before Ryan gave in hands raised. He quickly kissed Chad and walked towards the kitchen without a second glance in Troy's direction. Chad turned back to his friend with an embarrassed smile and slowly returned to the old couch.

"Sorry about that." Chad apologized for the blonde's attitude as he sat down.

"No, it's fine." Troy shook his head. "I guess I'd be kinda pissed if someone…interrupted me too. It's no big deal."

"No it is!" Chad started, but then bit his lip before he continued. He looked at Troy, then at the floor, in an obvious inner debate. Troy watched quietly, confused and waiting, until finally Chad took a deep breath and stared at Troy right in the eye.

"Are you cool with this Troy? I mean, me and Ryan? You're not weirded out or disgusted or—"

"Chad!" Troy quickly cut his friend off. "We're still friends." Troy stated slowly and carefully, speaking as soon as he thought of the words. "I'm not gonna say I'm not…shocked, or surprised, or slightly weirded out or anything—especially since it's you and _Ryan_, but…" Troy looked up at his friend staring at him with that scared look. "You're my best friend, and you've always backed me up on everything, so I'm not going to just dump you because of this, as scary and weird as it is to me, I'm here for you man. As long as this is the _only_ surprise you've got for me today, then yeah, I think I can get used to it. We're cool."

Chad let out a breath he'd been holding with a big smile. "Thanks Troy, that _really_ means a lot. Seriously, thank you."

"It's just," Troy added with a frown, immediately grabbing Chad's attention. "Why didn't you tell me? I know I didn't exactly give the best reaction right away before, but if you had just told me…I mean, did you really think I'd turn on you or something?"

"No!" Chad quickly protested. "Well, sort of, a little I guess. I was scared of what you'd think, but I _wanted_ to tell you earlier, but Ryan…"

"Ryan?" Troy repeated, watching his friend.

"Yeah," Chad nodded, attention on the brown carpeted floor. "I mean, don't get me wrong, he's great. I love being around him—I finally get why you're always so mushy around Gabriella. You wouldn't believe the conversations we have—and he's really good at arguing. He knows a lot of stuff, but he's not scary smart like Taylor. And he's pretty funny too, believe it or not, although he doesn't always mean to be. I don't know, I guess I'm just not scared to be myself around him, and he really likes me. He doesn't hide it…and I like that. And he's just so great at everything! Dancing, singing, acting, art, fashion stuff, and well, he sucks at basketball but he's an _amazing_ kisser…"

"NOT…quite ready to hear about that yet!" Troy interrupted uncomfortably, putting up a hand.

"Sorry man." Chad smiled. "It's just that, we can talk about _anything_ without a problem…except you."

"Me?" Troy repeated, assuming he'd heard wrong.

"Yeah," Chad nodded. "He _really_ doesn't like you, Troy. At least, when we first started going out, he _hated _when I mentioned you. I don't know if he was jealous, or tired of hearing about you from Sharpay or still holding a grudge over the whole "Twinkle Towne" thing or what—I think it was more than just that but I don't know for sure. Anyway, he didn't think you'd be okay with us. He was convinced I'd just be putting a big target on my back for the whole basketball team to hit if I told you. I didn't think you'd go that far but he did so we came up with a deal: I'd try and give his sister a chance, and he'd try and get along with you. I thought I'd end up telling you about us when Ryan trusted you more. I figured we were almost at that point…until you…"

"…walked in on you and kinda screwed that up…" Troy finished nodding.

"It's not your fault," Chad protested. "But…yeah, I'm not sure this helped his opinion of you."

"Wait, so you're getting along with Sharpay now?" Troy asked, changing the subject.

"She's actually not that bad once you get used to her." Chad answered seriously.

Troy laughed. "Wait, did Chad Danforth just say _Sharpay Evans_ isn't that bad?"

Chad hit his best friend in the arm. "Shut up man! Do you _really_ think I'd even be _allowed_ to date Ryan without Sharpay's permission?"

"I guess not." Troy nodded, smiling.

"…so, you're really cool with this?" Chad asked him again.

"Yes!" Troy patted his friend on the back, when suddenly a thought hit him. "Wait, am I the only one who knows about you two?"

"No, Sharpay knows." Chad explained. "I'm now sure _how_ she knows, we didn't tell her. That girl's like, psychic or something. She just started making these jokes one day, and Ryan said she asked if we'd 'done it' yet so she definitely knows. She gave me a warning too—apparently I'm the first real 'jock' Ryan's dated—he supposedly dumped some guy for being a football fan once or so Sharpay says so she doesn't want to discourage him from jocks—and if I break his heart she'll kill me."

"No pressure." Troy joked.

"I know," Chad nodded with a soft chuckle. "But she's not that bad. Just overprotective—they're actually really close, Ryan and Sharpay. I didn't think so before but Ryan really cares about her, and I've learned to like her too. That's why she jumped on you yesterday too. She thought you were interrogating me or something and she wanted to give me an out and distract you. Sorry if she scared you."

"Just a little." Troy joked back. "So not even Zeke knows? Aren't he and Sharpay actually dating now?"

Chad gave a loud laugh that surprised Troy before he answered. "Zeke…ah, Zeke. When he's with Sharpay, he doesn't notice _anything _else. I mean, out of all the times I've been over their house—which is _huge_ by the way, it's ridiculous—he hasn't noticed me there at all. I mean, I think he said 'hi' to me maybe _once_, but he didn't ask why I was there or anything. I doubt he even really saw that I was there. It's hilarious, he just follows Sharpay around like a personal servant—it's actually pretty funny to watch."

Troy was quite for a minute, staring at the ground as he thought over something.

"What is it Troy?" Chad finally asked, confused at the sudden change in his friend.

"…how would you feel about everyone else knowing?" Troy asked softly.

"What?" Chad nearly shouted. "You're going to tell everyone?"

"No! No, I didn't mean it like that." Troy immediately corrected himself. "It's just, well, the reason I came over today and was calling all of last night (though you didn't pick up) was that I wanted to invite you on this ski trip. Gabriella's mom has this condo upstate, and Gabriella invited like Taylor and Kelsi and everyone to go up next week for winter break. I was coming over to invite you, and your mom already said it was okay. I was just wondering…if you wanted to bring up Ryan and kind of…"

"Come out?" Ryan surprised them by finishing Troy's sentence, walking over back to his perch on the arm of the couch, sipping a Coke. "You want us to come out trapped in a tiny cabin on some mountain upstate?"

"You don't have to if you don't want to." Troy explained. "It was just an idea. Not to everyone, it would just be our friends there. You could invite Sharpay if you wanted to too. I just thought it might be a way for, you know, everyone to get used to you guys. I mean, I'm sure everyone would be okay with it, and if you want I could sort of break it to them before we go so they don't get freaked out or anything seeing you guys there for the first time. Or you could just forget the whole thing."

Chad turned to his boyfriend, bringing his arm around the slimmer boy's waist again. "Well, do you want to?"

Ryan frowned slightly, looking back at the other boy and placing his soda on the windowsill behind him. "Do you really think they'd be okay with it?"

"Well…" Chad started with a smile, rubbing the blonde's side again. "Yeah, I think they'd be okay with it. But if for some reason they're not, Sharpay could always scare them off."

"Ha ha." The blond laughed flatly, and hit the darker boy in the back of the head. "You're so funny."

"Plus, if we did go…" Chad suddenly pulled the lighter boy onto his lap. Ryan's eyes went wide and shot a scared look at Troy as if the playmaker was going to suddenly pull out a knife and stab them for their small display of affection—which Troy didn't even remotely try (though he did avert his eyes from the couple). Chad's arms encircled the blonde's waist completely and rested his chin in the crook of the lighter's neck. "…we at the very least wouldn't have to hide _this_ from anyone while we're there. That's something, right?"

"I guess…" Ryan answered stretching his neck back to kiss the spot right before Chad's ear, and spoke softly though Troy could still hear them. "…but could we talk about this later? Because I'm _really_ getting tired of waiting to go back upstairs…"

"Me too." Chad agreed, kissing his boyfriend's neck, before turning back to Troy. "Uh, Troy, could I call you later after we talk about this a bit?"

"Sure." Troy stood quickly, as he was starting feeling like a third wheel. "But only if you actually call this time."

"What?" Chad looked confused.

Troy chuckled softly. "Yesterday you said you'd call me later to tell me why you couldn't make practice, but you didn't…"

"Oh! Sorry…I sort of forgot…" Chad started to explain.

"It's okay." Troy shook his head. "I can guess how you got distracted…"

"Yeah." Chad nodded. "If I forget, just call here and I promise I'll answer."

"But please wait at least two hours before calling." Ryan smirked with a wink.

"Right!" Troy gave a thumbs up and nod, beginning to feel really uncomfortable. "So, I'll just leave now…and let you two get back…yeah, I'll just leave."

Troy started quickly walking out, dropping Chad's cell phone back on the couch, faintly hearing his friend yell "Thanks Troy" behind him.

As he closed the front door of his best friend's house, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He silently hoped he had just done the right thing, and his teammates and friends were as open minded as he thought they were. And that there was enough room in the Montez's condo for everyone to fit.

* * *

So what's the next chapter going to be? Ryan's point of view during all of this (and what exactly he was eavesdropping in on), or skipping ahead towards winter break? (seriously, I'm not sure which chapter to do--review with what you want to see!) And who's going to be showing up at the condo, and is anyone going to have issues with Chad's new relationship?

Please review!


	4. My Girlfriend's Best Friend

I'm really sorry about this...I didn't want to post this chapter until I got everyone in the story to the condo. But, what I had ended up writing was over three thousand words and they still hadn't even finished inviting everyone there yet! So, rather than rush the story, I decided to post this scene seperately from the rest of what I had written for the chapter. It's apparently going to take some time for them to get to the condo (I doubt it will be happening in the next chapter, but the one after most likely), although it's my fault because I made Sharpay take the reins! Although in the story, it's Troy who let her take control, so you can blame him if you want to.

This whole scene kinda came out of nowhere, and I was thinking of deleting it and skipping ahead to the next chapter, but then I remembered that the focus of the story _is_ supposed to be Chad and Troy's friendship and not Chad and Ryan's relationship (although I am thinking of posting a one-shot ChadxRyan focus fic so look out for that), so that plot justifies (forced?) this chapter staying. Troy is so hard to motivate to do anything...

* * *

**My Best Friend's Secret**

**Part 4**: My Girlfriend's Best Friend

* * *

The week before winter break was one of the oddest and most tiring Troy had ever had.

The afternoon following his discovery, Chad didn't call him. Sharpay did on his and Ryan's behalf (which she informed him as soon as Troy picked up the phone, acting almost as if she was their lawyer). She claimed she had discussed the situation with Ryan and Chad, and although she would love to attend on the ski trip, she did not approve of Troy outing Ryan and Chad beforehand to all of their friends by himself. She insisted that she be involved and for Troy to meet her on Monday before school to discuss the situation further. Troy had permission only to speak with Gabriella about what was going on—unless Troy felt that she couldn't keep her mouth shut, then he couldn't. Sharpay then hung up with Troy not having said more than "hello" to her.

As Troy listened to the buzzing dial tone, he decided he agreed with Chad—anyone who wasn't okay with the two of them could definitely be scared into accepting them by Sharpay. And although he felt full of himself by thinking it, Troy figured between him and Sharpay backing up and supporting the couple, the whole school may end up actually being okay with them!

"Who'd want to mess with the two most popular kids in school?" Troy laughed aloud in his room as he hung up the phone. "Okay, better not get too cocky."

After all, he knew he wasn't too okay with it. He hated that he felt that way, but thinking about Ryan and Chad together was still giving him a really weird feeling. But he kept trying to stifle it—he focused on how happy Chad had looked when Troy told him he _was_ okay with it. This was really important to Chad, and Troy wanted more than anything to support his best friend—he was going to force himself to get used to it. But as the minutes passed, more and more questions he had _wished _he'd been able to think of earlier appeared—how did this happen? When on Earth had Ryan and Chad even been in the same _room_, much less spoken to each other long enough to even consider being friends? How long had this been going on? And…although he knew Troy knew he'd never get a straight answer for it…what was the attraction? The two were so different; it didn't make sense to Troy. Chad and Sharpay made more sense together! Ryan was…well, truth be told Troy guessed he didn't really know that much about Ryan. Even with Chad's earlier sappy list…Troy still couldn't see how Chad could care, or even _know_ that much about Ryan.

But that was why it was so important for this ski trip to work out. Troy _wanted_ to be able to see it. If he wasn't supportive of them, it was very possible none of his teammates would be. Although even with his position as team captain, if enough of the guys felt grossed out…Chad might be in trouble anyway. There was no way Chad could take on the entire team, especially if Troy wasn't looking out for him one-hundred percent. But hopefully with Sharpay there too, nobody would even think about trying to sway Troy to be more disgusted than supportive of his friend.

But just when Troy forcing his confidence in the situation to go up again, it immediately fell when Gabriella came over for their date after her meeting, when he told her about Ryan and Chad and his plan.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea Troy?" Gabriella spoke for the first time that afternoon.

"What do you mean?" Troy quickly asked, worried.

"Bringing them all up to the condo?" Gabriella slowly explained. "Are you really sure that's the smartest thing to do?"

"Is the condo not big enough?" Troy questioned stupidly, wanting to hit himself for letting the probably least important worry slip out first.

"No, I don't think Sharpay and Ryan will take up that much more space. There are probably more than enough rooms." Gabriella smiled, staring at the floor—quite similar to how Troy had been sitting with Chad earlier. "No, what I meant was: do you think that's the best way to do this? I mean, if Ryan and Chad are…together now. Do you really think it's smart to have them…around everybody else—for a whole week?"

Troy watched her face, a thought he hadn't considered wandering into his mind as he asked her softly. "Gabriella…do you have a problem with it?"

Gabriella's head suddenly shot up as her looked at Troy. "Oh no! That's not what I meant! I mean, I actually always had a feeling that Chad was probably that way…"

"You did!?" Troy demanded shocked, once again feeling like an idiot. Was he just that oblivious?

"Well, my cousin's gay…and Chad always sort of reminded me of him. They're really similar, so I guess I was kind of expecting this to come up eventually. I never would have mentioned when Taylor and Chad were dating though! …and my mom doesn't have a problem with it either. My whole family was pretty accepting of my cousin, except his brother but he doesn't live with him anymore." Gabriella explained, before turning away from Troy again. "No, I mean…well you're sure that the guys on your team are going to be okay with spending the week with them?"

Troy frowned. Something told him that wasn't what Gabriella was worried about. "Well, I figured that's what we were going to talk to Sharpay about on Monday." Troy reached out and put a hand on Gabriella's shoulder, so she looked at him again. "Now, what are you really worried about?"

Gabriella bit her lip (which was quite distracting for Troy who had to reprimand himself in his head to pay attention) before answering in an almost whisper "Taylor…"

"Oh…" Troy looked away in guilt. He had completely forgotten about her.

"Yeah, it's just—I already invited Taylor and everything, so she's definitely coming. And I know she says she has a crush on that mystery person she won't tell us anything about, but I don't know…that could easily just still be Chad! And I mean, I know Chad's your best friend and you'd probably want everyone to accept him still, and it would be a good idea I guess. But Taylor's my best friend, and I mean, it could be really, _really_ awkward for her. You're boyfriend turning gay after dating you doesn't exactly help your self-esteem, you know? And then having it shoved in your face for a week? I don't know… I just don't want her to get hurt either." Gabriella looked sadly at Troy.

"I'm sorry…I wasn't thinking about her when I invited them." Troy answered, feeling incredibly guilty for not even considering how his girlfriend's best friend would feel.

"No…it's okay. I mean, we'll just tell her before we go like you're doing with your team, right? If she feels really horrible…I guess she just won't come. But who knows? Maybe she is totally over Chad. Maybe I'm just being a worry-wart." Gabriella slowly smiled, trying to remain optimistic. "It's not your fault Troy. You were just looking out for your best friend. I mean, what would change if you hadn't invited them? I'm sorry for dumping it all on you."

"No, I should've thought before…" Troy started when Gabriella cut him off.

"It's not your fault Troy. You were just thinking about Chad…" Gabriella reassured, squeezing his hand. "Now, are you okay with all of this?"

"Huh?" Troy looked confused at his girlfriend suddenly changing the subject.

"Chad dating Ryan? I know you said you found out kind of…oddly," Gabriella giggled a little, before continuing. "But you didn't say how you actually felt about it."

"Well, Chad's my best friend." Troy defended, as if the answer was as detailed as possible.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you're totally fine with it." Gabriella pried, reminding Troy of a therapist. A very cute therapist. "I'm sure Chad was grateful his best friend supports him, but it would hurt him a whole lot more if you said that, and then had some sort of blow up at the condo." Troy stared at her horrified—at the fact that she could think he'd do that, and that he was actually worried about something like that happening so she must be some sort of mind-reader. Gabriella smiled sadly at his look. "That's what happened with my cousin's brother. He supported him at first, but then a few days after he came out, his brother got into an argument with him they got into a fistfight and well, that was the last we really saw of my cousin's brother. He ran off after that. So I just want to make sure you're not holding anything back just to make Chad feel better. It's great if you want to support him, just make sure you're actually ready for it."

"Well…I was weirded out by them, and it was kind of awkward at first." Troy confessed to which Gabriella nodded as if she knew he was. "It still kind of is thinking about it now. Especially since Chad said Ryan doesn't like me, I guess I kind of felt like…I don't know, like Chad was almost going against me by dating Ryan and not telling me. You know, choosing a relationship with Ryan over his friendship with me. But I don't _want_ to feel like that—I want to totally accept them. That was kind of the reason why I suggested that Ryan go on the ski trip too. I'm hoping by seeing them together like that, I'll get used to it. And get along with Ryan better." Troy turned to her, looking quite vulnerable. "Was that a stupid reason?"

Gabriella smiled and shook her head. She moved over to hug her boyfriend, whispering "Not at all. Chad's lucky to have you for a best friend. I'm sure Ryan will see that too."

"I just hope the guys feel the same way." Troy replied softly into Gabriella's dark hair.

* * *

I really do love torturing Troy...I may need to get help for that...

I used to hate Gabriella as a character too, or rather was incredibly annoyed with her I'm-innocent-but-I-have-evil-glances attitude (although I love Vanessa Hudgens and Corrie (TSLZC), I couldn't help it I was a Sharpay fan) but the more I write her the harder it is to feel that way. The more I write her the more I like her. And I don't want to her character...yet I have no problem doing that with Troy. Maybe it's just Troy. Oh well, he still needs to pay up for how good he had it in the first movie.

Anyway, hopefully the next chapter will be up really soon (maybe tonight if you're lucky!), I just wanted to update because I had done a lot already. Please review! (And thanks for all the favorites adding)


	5. Changes and Outings

Yes! Got it up. Added in a bunch more ChadxRyan scenes to make up for the lack of them in the last chapter. Hopefully, the next chapter will be at the condo. Enjoy!

* * *

**My Best Friend's Secret**

**Part 5: **Changes and Outings

* * *

Monday came fast, and not knowing where exactly to meet Sharpay (and too scared to call her), Troy waited for her in the lobby. He figured that'd be the best place to run into her, as well as go off to wherever it was she planned on talking the situation over with him. Gabriella waited with Troy, deciding that when they told Taylor, she should probably be there for her friend in case she did take it hard.

Sharpay did finally arrive in her pink convertible outside—but Troy was shocked to see she wasn't alone. Aside from her brother following her as always, also climbing out of the car Troy could see through the glass doors was Chad. It didn't look like Chad though, because there was no way that Chad or his parents could afford the clothes he was wearing—not to mention there was no way Troy could think that Chad would even chose to wear that outfit.

Gone was Chad's simple blue jean and funny T-shirt look. Instead, Chad was striding up to the school in expensive-looking dark jeans, with a silver and black belt, a black shirt with an intricate flame design coming up the side and onto the front, whose neckline was low enough to emphasize the necklace that Chad always wore, a rather large ring on his right hand, a leather brown jacket hanging open on his shoulders, two or three bracelets over his two wrists, and the red teardrop earrings which were noticeable by the most attention-grabbing piece of Chad's look—his hair was pulled back. Big-haired Chad Danforth was wearing a hair tie or something, pulling his dark curls into some sort of bun/ponytail combination. Troy and Gabriella both could only stare as the trio marched into the school, very few recognizing Chad.

"Chad…" Troy breathed at his friend when he walked over.

"Don't ask." Chad answered quickly, putting his hands up in front of him.

"What happened?" Gabriella questioned anyway, holding back a laugh. "You look a little different…"

"Well he certainly wasn't going to go public about dating _my brother_ dressed like he normally did!" Sharpay defended her obvious transformation of the basketball player's wardrobe with a smile. "So we took him shopping yesterday."

"Worst experience, of my life." Chad stated very slowly and clearly, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket.

"It wasn't that bad." Ryan laughed at Chad's pout. "Besides, you look good in those clothes."

"Yes, but wearing them to _school_? These aren't school clothes!" Chad protested, making Ryan laugh more.

Troy, who by now was also laughing at his friend's predicament, teased him with the question "What do clothes have to do with his hair?"

"My question exactly!" Chad turned to Sharpay in agreement, apparently having not thought to ask the girl earlier when his hair was being pulled back.

"It wouldn't kill you to try a new hairstyle once in a while." Sharpay argued flatly. "Plus, it goes with the whole look of the outfit." Sharpay emphasized her statement by moving her hands up and down, as if photographing Chad.

"Well, I'm not wearing any of this stuff after today." Chad muttered defiantly, only to be given a hard, icy glare from Sharpay that literally made Chad freeze in fear. He finally broke out after a moment, pleading "At least let me wear my hair out tomorrow! _Please!_"

"We'll talk about it in the morning." Sharpay smiled evilly and patted Chad's shoulder. She then turned to Troy and Gabriella, motioning them to follow her as she told them "Come on, we have about twenty minutes before Ms. Darbus shows up. We've got a key and permission to use her room in the mornings, so we'll talk there. We already cancelled the Drama Club meeting so we'll be the only ones in the room." Sharpay strutted down the hallway, crowds of kids parting for her as they always did.

"I'm not going to have my hair out tomorrow, am I?" Chad mumbled dejectedly to Ryan as they followed the Drama Queen down the hall.

Ryan chuckled softly, placing a hand on the darker boy's back in a friendly gesture to anyone watching but Troy knew it was probably just an excuse to touch the other. "I'll talk to her." Ryan smiled. "I think I like your hair out better anyway."

"Then I am definitely not wearing it like this anymore!" Chad declared more confidently. His hands moved to pull out the tie behind his head when Ryan suddenly grabbed his wrist in panic. "What?"

"You don't want to risk that. Believe me." Ryan laughed nervously. "Just deal with it for now. I'll make it up to you later."

Chad grinned widely, immediately interpreting the statement the way he wanted to. "_Well_, when you put it like _that,_ how can I say no?" Chad spread his hands out widely, one going to rest on Ryan's shoulder, pulling the blond boy closer to mutter in his ear. "How about I get to dress you up later?"

Ryan smirked at his boyfriend, enjoying the talk. "What exactly did you have in mind? You know, me and Sharpay have a lot of costumes at our house from all the shows we've done…"

"I guess I'm just going to have to see how you look in them all then." Chad answered innocently, with an evil glint in his eye. Troy coughed loudly from behind the couple; Gabriella smiled awkwardly looking anywhere but in front of her. "Oh, sorry Troy." Chad smiled apologetically while Ryan just frowned at the singing jock. "Forgot you were behind us."

"Yeah, I kind of figured that." Troy nodded, and tried to avoid Ryan's dark stare. "We should probably catch up with Sharpay."

Chad turned to look ahead of him and noticed where Sharpay was. "Wow that girl is fast!"

When they were all in the classroom with the door shut behind them, Sharpay sat on top of her desk facing Troy, arms and legs crossed. Ryan stood leaning on the desk behind her, and Chad sat on the desk next to them. Gabriella sat in the chair for the desk Chad was sitting on, and Troy just awkwardly stood next to his best friend, hands in his pockets.

When they were all relatively comfortable, Sharpay directly asked Troy "So, how exactly were you planning on breaking the news to your buddies?"

"Um…" Troy hesitated at the sudden question. "I hadn't really thought about how I guess. I figured I'd just tell them or something…"

"Did you even plan on where? Like a place where no one else would be eavesdropping? Or what words you'd use? How you'd phrase their relationship? Did you think about what kinds of questions they'd ask you? Or what to do if they got pissed? Or when you're going to bring it up? Like before or after basketball practice? Or what about your dad? Are you telling him? Who exactly are you planning on telling anyway? The entire team or just certain people? And are they all going on this ski trip?" Sharpay interrogated, barely giving the boy time to breathe.

"Um…well…" Troy stuttered during her short pause, glancing from Chad to Sharpay to Gabriella. "I…"

"Did you even spend _any_ time on the specifics of how you're handling this situation?" Sharpay reprimanded with a glare. "This isn't simple you know. It's really important that you're careful in how you do this—have you even heard of what happens to some kids when they come out? Do you want Chad and Ryan getting beat up? Or Chad getting kicked off the team? I mean, picture the worst teasing and taunting you've ever seen in school, and times that by a thousand, and then you might have some idea of what could happen if you don't do this the right way! You have to actually use your head while doing this you know! Or else _my_ brother and _your_ friend are going to pay for it!"

"I-I…." Troy stuttered, suddenly scared and wondering if they should just forget the whole thing. If those were all the possible consequences, Chad coming out just might not be worth it. He assumed that when Sharpay called, _she_ had a plan on how to do this, but apparently he was supposed to have thought through it himself more. "I didn't…"

"You didn't think did you? Then why did you bring it up? Do you _want_ them to be ostracized by the entire school?" Sharpay continued, getting angrier by the minute.

"Sharpay, Sharpay!" Ryan suddenly interjected, putting his hands on her shoulders so she'd turn to him. "I think you're scaring him."

"Well I'm sorry, but I just don't want you and Chad to get backlash for him being stupid!" Sharpay huffed and then turned away with a pout, arms crossed higher.

"I don't think shoving everything that could possibly go wrong down his throat is the best way to get him to think clearly." Ryan suggested politely.

"It's okay." Chad commented suddenly, grabbing everyone's attention.

"What?" Sharpay demanded.

"I trust Troy." Chad explained with a smile, looking at his friend next to him. "Troy's never let me down before. And I mean, if my best friend's cool with us, that's all that matters right? If anyone else has a problem with it, screw them! But I seriously think we'll be okay." Chad turned back to Sharpay with a smirk. "Besides, if anyone gives us trouble, you could always…" Chad trailed off when Ryan shot him a warning look. "…always talk to them and I'm sure they'll back off." Chad quickly changed his words.

Sharpay nodded slightly conceitedly, considering Chad's words for a minute. "I guess that's true. Alright then, if you've got that much faith in him then, we'll let Troy handle it. But Ryan and I are still coming along just in case." Sharpay declared. "So, who specifically are we telling?"

"Well," Gabriella jumped in carefully. "We already invited Taylor and Kelsi on the trip, and did you ask anyone yet Troy?"

"I um, mentioned it to Zeke and Jason I think…but not formally or anything yet no." Troy answered.

"Wait, wait, back up—Taylor's going too?" Chad turned worried to Troy. "I didn't know about that."

"Yeah, I kinda wasn't thinking of that when I was at your house the other day." Troy apologized, not looking at Chad's eyes.

"Of _course_ she's coming." Sharpay loudly commented with a sarcastic smile. "Okay, moving on—who else?"

"Taylor, Kelsi, Jason, Zeke…" Gabriella counted on her fingers. "My mom we don't have to tell—she probably wouldn't want to know but she definitely won't have a problem if she sees you guys holding hands or whatever at the condo. Is there anybody else you wanted to invite?" Gabriella turned to look at Troy, though she meant it as a general question.

"No, I don't think so…Chad?" Troy shrugged and looked at his best friend.

Chad didn't answer at first, and sat with a very serious look on his face aimed at the floor. "No, that's everyone I want to know for now. Unless Ryan…?"

"Whatever you want Chad." Ryan shrugged. "It's going to affect you a lot more than it's going to affect me."

"Okay." Chad nodded and jumped off the desk. "Let's do this!"

"Chad, we don't know what we're doing yet." Sharpay reminded him harshly. Chad quickly sat back down on the desk without a word, embarrassed. Sharpay pulled her cell phone out of her purse to check the time. "Okay, we don't really have enough time to run around and find everyone right now. When do you want to do this?" Sharpay glanced up at Troy expectantly.

"After school?" Troy said the first thing that popped into his head.

"Okay." Sharpay nodded and tossed her phone back into her purse and slid off the desk. "We'll meet at Zeke's locker." Sharpay strutted towards the door, but quickly turned on a heel when passing Troy, pointing her finger at his face forcing him to lean backwards against the desk. "No saying a word of this before that, got it?"

"Yeah…" Troy nodded nervously as Gabriella stood and walked over to her scared boyfriend.

Sharpay smirked, satisfied. "Tootles!" She waved and continued out the door.

Ryan made his way to follow Sharpay slowly. When he stopped when he was in front of Chad and asked him smiling "Meet you in our spot later?"

The hatted blond leaned over to softly peck his boyfriend's lips, before Chad smirked and suddenly pulled the paler boy closer, so he was standing between his legs. Bringing a hand behind the other's head, the darker boy considerably deepened the kiss. Ryan gladly moved a hand to rest on Chad's thigh, which the basketball player answered by bringing his other hand to rest on Ryan's back.

"I'm going to go see if Taylor's here yet." Gabriella whispered grabbing her bag, pulling Troy out of the trance he'd fallen into while watching the other two. "You want to come?"

"Uh…" Troy laughed, inwardly cringing at how his girlfriend had caught him staring at his best friend making out with his boyfriend. "No, I actually wanted to ask Chad something…"

Gabriella looked over the couple who seemed to have fallen into their own world. She looked back at Troy with an awkward smile. "They are cute…good luck!" Gabriella wished as she quietly walked out the door.

Troy waited over by the door, doing his best not to look at the couple he was beginning to think had forgotten about him. He pretended to be interested in the various posters on the walls as he paced a little back and forth. But when he noticed Ryan unzipping his best friends pants, Troy decided enough was enough. Troy was about to interrupt the couple, but ended up not having to.

"Oh my!" A shrill cry came out as the door opened, causing all three occupants of the room to jump.

"Ms. Darbus!" Ryan recognized as his face turned pink from embarrassment.

"Um…hi!" Chad cringed as he tried to unnoticeably re-zip his pants.

Ms. Darbus just stood in shock at the boys. Troy was sure after a few moments which were probably seconds, that the drama teacher was going to faint. Gripping the doorknob tightly, her eyes moved from Ryan, one of her best students, to Chad, one of her worst, and then to Troy—her rival's son. Finally, she shook her head.

"I don't want to know." The frazzled woman muttered and moved over to her stage set up desk.

Ryan turned back to Chad. "I'm going to go find Sharpay. I'll see you later." The blond quickly grabbed his messenger bag, face still red as a stop sign, and rushed out of the room without a glance in Troy's direction.

Troy motioned to Chad to follow him out the door, which Chad made no haste in doing.

"Remind me to never again make-out with Ryan in _Darbus's_ room, of all the teachers…" Chad complained aloud once they were in the hallway.

"Please tell me I'm never going to have to actually remind of that…?" Troy laughed, trying to make a joke.

* * *

Before I get asked: The main reason why Ryan (espeically) is so openly flirting with Chad despite Troy and Gabriella's presence in this chapter is mostly because of the fact that Sharpay is there. He isn't worried about Troy attacking them when his sister is there to back them up.

Next Chapter:

Questions about why Chad was arriving with the Evans twins, how he got talked into wearing the new clothes, and where he woke up that morning will be answered in the next chapter--along with a lot of other things when Troy finally gets to talk with his best friend one on one.

Zeke's, Jason's, Kelsi's and Taylor's reactions to Chad and Ryan's relationship. Not all will be positive.

First day/night (arrive in the evening) at the condo.


	6. Tests of Friendship

Wow, this is officially the _longest_ chapter I've ever written--on this account or probably any of my others. And I still didn't get to the condo! But it will be definately be the next chapter. It will start off there. The only reason it's not in this one is because this chapter was already over 6000 words, and I figured I shouldn't put off posting it when I already had all of this done and just make it ridiculously long. Everything else though, that I mentioned in the last chapter made it here.

And thanks for all of the review and favorites and alerts!! I really really appriciate them!

* * *

**My Best Friend's Secret**

**Part 6: **Tests of Friendship

* * *

Troy and Chad made their way over to Troy's locker, Chad with his hands in the pockets of his expensive jacket. Chad was constantly shooting his eyes all around them, and Troy knew although his best friend denied it, that he was extremely nervous about everyone's reactions to his appearance, and probably what he would be letting his friends know later in the day. Troy reached his locker and opened it up to get his books. 

"Okay, dude, be serious—how stupid do I look?" Chad looked seriously at his best friend crouched down pulling out a textbook.

Troy looked up at his stylishly dressed friend leaning against the nearby locker. "You don't look stupid Chad, you just look…different. Not like you normally do." Troy finished with a laugh.

"Yeah, yeah, you go ahead and laugh." Chad crossed his arms and leaned back against the locker. "You're not the one forced to wear friggin' tight jeans."

"How'd Sharpay get you to wear all of that anyway…?" Troy asked cautiously through his chuckling.

"Well, after you left Saturday, me and Ryan went upstairs to finish what we'd started earlier…" Chad explained with a growing grin at the obvious memories. "Anyway, when we finished, Ryan called up Sharpay and told her what we talked about, and at first, she was really angry so she came over and we talked it out a little more. That's when she called you…then she raided my closet. She wanted me to have an appropriate outfit for today. Apparently, I had nothing 'appropriate' to wear in my closet, or drawers or pretty much any of my clothes. The girl even threw out a bunch of my clothes! You know that shirt I got at basketball camp two years ago? Yeah, gone!"

"Sharpay _threw out_ some of your clothes?" Troy repeated disbelievingly.

"Well, she made _Ryan_ go downstairs and get the garbage bag, but yeah, she threw them out! I lost half my shirts Saturday." Chad pouted, crossing his arms.

"And your parents just let that happen?" Troy asked curiously. "Or did this all happen before they got back?"

"Actually, they came back _while_ it was happening." Chad corrected frustrated. "And it turns out, my mom _loves _Sharpay. She mentioned seeing the Michael Crawford's picture in our fridge and all of a sudden Mom couldn't get enough of her. Whatever she said, my mom agreed with! I'm telling you, Sharpay is psychic! She mind controlled her or something. It was scary!"

"Then what?" Troy asked curiously as he stood up and closed his locker.

"Would you believe my mom let me stay overnight at their house?" Chad challenged a bit proudly. "Two nights in a row."

"No way." Troy asked jaw dropped.

"Yup." Chad nodded. "Sharpay worded it as an 'extended sleepover.'"

"I don't believe it." Troy laughed. "The last time you slept over my house was like, when we were ten. I mean, I know you got permission for the ski trip and all, but that's different…"

"I know right?" Chad answered excitedly. "I was supposed to be staying in their huge guest room, but I ended up in Ryan's room both nights. Dude, it was _awesome_. Probably two of the best nights of my life, and all the shopping Sharpay made me do on Sunday was totally worth it just for that."

"Wow…Chad just please don't go into too much detail about it okay?" Troy pleaded with a laugh.

"Fine." Chad grinned. "But that means you can't go into too much detail about Gabriella then."

"Do I normally?" Troy questioned confused.

Chad just laughed hard in response, nearly bending over and clutching his stomach. "_YES! _…not so easy to be on the other end of the couple speech, huh?"

"Sorry, I never noticed." Troy replied embarrassedly. When their laughter died down, Troy stared at Chad.

"What?" Chad smiled.

"You really like him, don't you?" Troy stated with a serious look.

"Yeah, I really like him." Chad answered softly with a nod and a very small smile on his face. "That's why I really want this to work out."

"Like who?" A voice came from behind Troy, causing both of the boys to nearly jump out of their skin. They both turned to look and saw Zeke and Jason walking over.

"Coach! We're talking my dad, the coach." Troy quickly answered, feeling incredibly stupid after he did (as did Chad, raising an eyebrow at his best friend and resisting the urge to hit him).

"Who's the new guy?" Zeke asked curiously to Troy, but gesturing to Chad.

"You thinking of trying out for the team?" Jason added on, staring (and sizing up) at the newly dressed Chad.

"Guys! It's me!" Chad protested incredulously, throwing his arms out to either side of him. "One of your closest friends since _first grade?_ Chad Danforth? Hello??"

"_Chad?_" Zeke realized, jaw dropping and eyes nearly popping out of his head.

"He doesn't look like Chad…" Jason observed, turning his head to the side.

"Dude, _what happened_ to you?" Zeke continued, as other members of the team started to gather around them to stare at one of their best players' new look.

"What? A guy can't dress differently or something?" The boy at the center of attention tried to defend himself, now almost wishing he hadn't revealed his identity.

"Taylor force you to dress up nice or something?" Zeke teased chuckling.

"No!"

"Someone's got you whipped…" One of their other teammates commented.

"Guys, just lay off!"

"Uh oh, I think we've offended the little wife now…" Came another voice.

"Come on dude; just tell us the special occasion for the pretty clothes…" Shouted still another.

"Did she buy them for you _and _pick them out?" One near the back shouted. "And are the boxers new too—or does she prefer you in briefs?"

"What is she doing for you if you wear them?" Someone from behind teased.

"Forget that—what're you getting for tying your hair back Chad?" Another asked suggestively.

"Shut up!" Chad shouted angrily, grabbing everyone's attention and quite a couple of confused stares.

"Okaaaay. Better get to class. Come on, nothing to see here." Troy commented, nervously pushing Chad through the mob of gazing basketball players.

Once they were far enough away from their teammates, they slowed down and Chad turned to his best friend, sadly and frustrated. "If that's how they react to me wearing different clothes, how're they gonna react to me dating Ryan?"

"Oh," Troy finally realized why Chad nearly blew up. "They were just kidding around, Chad; they didn't mean anything by it…"

"What about when I come out?" His friend asked, almost accusingly. "What're they going to do then? How much teasing am I going to get for that? I mean…!" Chad turned around in his place frustrated, bringing his hands to either side of his head before saying very softly. "…I seriously thought everyone would be okay with it…but now…I don't…"

"WOW! Chad…" The two boys turned to see Taylor and Gabriella walking over. Taylor was staring at Chad, mouth open and looking appreciatively at him. "You actually look good today. _Nice_ outfit." She smiled before turning into Darbus's room with her best friend.

"Great. My ex-girlfriend thinks I look good! What else could go wrong." Chad muttered.

"Come on, Chad. This'll all work out, I promise. Let's go." Troy assured as he pulled the darker boy into the classroom. "No one's gonna make any comments about your outfit in class anyway, right?"

Chad spotted the blond in the red, pink, and black floral button-down shirt under his dark jacket and tan brown hat. That was when Troy realized Sharpay had coordinated all _three_ of their outfits to match. He also noticed that Chad's desk was now right next to Ryan's—a fact he hadn't noticed but had probably been true since he moved his own desk closer to Gabriella's. Ryan smiled, looking Chad up and down as the boy stared back at him with a similar, albeit smaller, grin.

"I guess you're right Troy. It'll all probably be fine, right? No use worrying over it…" Chad mumbled to his friend behind him before quickly moving towards his desk and sitting in his chair facing Ryan.

Troy felt someone staring at him, and looked up to Sharpay with a very suspicious look on her face aimed at him. It sent chills down his spine and made him feel guilty about something though he didn't know what. Ms. Darbus then fluttered into the room again, and Troy tried to shake off the negative feelings as he sat down in his usual seat next to Gabriella. But he was starting to believe Chad was right about Sharpay being psychic, because what occurred that period made him feel like a liar and slightly ashamed.

What Troy hadn't counted on when reassuring Chad before was that now at his desk, everyone in the classroom knew it was Chad and not some new kid. And while very few people were making any comments about his new look to his face (positive or negative), even from his seat in the back of the class Troy could hear the whispers that nearly every person in the room was making, and he had a sneaking suspicion they were all about Chad. Troy could see his best friend's head sink lower and lower as the class went on—as if all the words being mumbled about him were physically weighing him down. Troy looked to Gabriella, who glanced back at him with a pitiful look on her. Troy could see past her that even Taylor had a worried look in Chad's direction.

Then the boy in question surprised all of them by suddenly shooting a hand up in the air and asking to be excused to the bathroom. Ms. Darbus (who had avoided calling on all three boys since their embarrassing encounter earlier that morning) was silent in shock/fear again, before waving him in approval and returning to her lesson. Troy could swear five seconds hadn't even passed before Chad was out of the room.

Troy's eyes travelled over to Ryan, and just saw the boy looking slightly sad at the classroom door but otherwise calm and relaxed. It wasn't long before Ryan's attention was back on Darbus and the lesson, in all appearances not thinking about Chad anymore. This annoyed Troy, but he bit his lip and tried to concentrate on this work. But when it neared time for the class to end, and Chad had still not returned, Troy began to worry again. It wouldn't be past Chad to play the bathroom card to cut Drama class, but this time his friend had another reason to want to ditch class.

For the next three periods, Troy didn't see Chad—in the hallways or in class. He missed free period practice (causing the Coach to say some pretty nasty things about him and warning everyone that Chad couldn't afford to miss anymore, and he'd be doing some serious lap running the next time he did decide to show up). It was driving Troy crazy—again, no one seemed to know where his best friend was! He was beginning to wonder if Chad had suddenly gained the ability to turn invisible, when suddenly in the middle of the next period, Troy noticed somebody else was missing. Ryan Evans. He hadn't noticed Ryan following his sister around since Darbus's class either.

But Troy did run into the Drama King when he asked near the end of the period if he could be excused to the bathroom. He saw the blond in the floral shirt washing his hands in the sink right away when he walked in. There was nobody else in the restroom, and both boys froze when they noticed the other.

For some reason, Troy felt more awkward than he did when he walked in on the couple.

"Uh…hey, Ryan." Troy stammered out, closing the door behind him.

Ryan stared distrustfully at the boy, a look Troy was starting to get used to. "Hi Troy." The paler boy then reached and squirted some more liquid soap into his hand, focusing on washing his hands once more.

"So, um…" Troy continued, feeling like he had to elaborate the conversation. "Have you seen Chad around?"

"Why?" Ryan responded without looking up.

"He uh, missed free period practice earlier…" The playmaker made his way closer to the other's sink.

"Then why do you need to see him now?" The Drama King responded coldly.

"Because he still missed the practice…" Troy argued back. "And he's my friend and I want to know where he's been the past few periods."

"Maybe he had something better to do." Ryan somehow managed to snap casually, as he turned off the water.

"So you do know where he is." The basketball player reasoned, trying to keep his temper in check.

"I didn't say that." The blond reached for the towel dispenser.

"Ryan!" Troy shouted, causing the blond to step back slightly in fear. "Look, I know you don't like me—"

"Quite observant of you." The other sneered sarcastically.

"—but since you _are_ dating my best friend," Ryan's eyes immediately went to glance around for anyone else in the bathroom. "Don't you think we could _try_ and get along? Now, can't you at least tell me where he's been hiding out these past few periods?"

"No." Ryan spat defiantly, crossing his arms and leaning back against the sink. "Because the reason he's been 'hiding out' is so he doesn't get any more teasing until after school." Ryan's eyes narrowed accusingly at the playmaker.

"What? I wouldn't…"

"You know, I'm not buying this whole great accepting best friend act of yours." Ryan added on quickly. "Although maybe that's just because _I_ wasn't the one ignoring Chad for two months when he needed my help."

"Two months…" The guilt boulder suddenly fell back on Troy's shoulders. "Wait, what do you mean help…?"

"I hope for the sake of Chad that you really are this wonderful guy Troy that he keeps saying you are, but you haven't done anything in my book to show it." Ryan continued his rant, purposefully ignoring Troy's questions. "I mean, you ignore him for months, and then just happen to show this great interest in him all of a sudden and _coincidentally_ show up at his house the same day I'm there with him—and then talk about us coming out to all our friends with the major possibility of him being ostracized from all of them. I mean, in retrospect, it all looks really suspicious to me."

"What do you mean?" Troy demanded.

"I mean, it sounds like you could just be playing this big practical joke on Chad that could get him mocked by the entire school because _you_ found out about his sexuality." Ryan walked up and spoke softly but harshly right to the other boy's face. "I don't trust you. I really hope for Chad that I'm wrong, because he really looks up to you, but _I_ don't think you're half as supportive of us as you claim to be. Now, I haven't said anything to Chad yet, but if somehow the whole school ends up being there at Zeke's locker later, don't think I won't. It's not going to matter that much to me if everyone finds out because half the school thinks I'm gay already, but I don't want Chad getting hurt from trusting you, okay?"

"I would never hurt Chad!" Troy shouted defiantly as the blond passed him, anger starting to really bubble over. "He's my _best friend! _And I'm just reacting the way I feel! Would you rather I totally turned against you guys?"

"I'd rather you be honest!" The Drama King shouted back. "For a best friend you know, you're acting kind of strange."

"_Me_?" Troy yelled, disbelievingly. "For a boyfriend, I'd say you're the one acting strange! What kind of boyfriend interrogates his boyfriend's best friend in the bathroom?"

"Like I said, _I_ wasn't the one ignoring him for two months." Ryan finished coolly, before turning on a heel and opening the bathroom door. "See you later Troy."

Troy let out a grunt of frustration and kicked the wall of the bathroom hard. He then winced at the pain that shot into his foot. He knew Ryan had a point—he had been a jerk of a friend, and by the way Ryan was talking, Chad had probably been going through something over that time that he could've used Troy's help with. He just wished he knew what it was. Although he was starting to understand more about why Ryan held such a big grudge against him. Chad was a great friend, and would probably forgive Troy for just about anything—the feeling was mutual of course, Troy would forgive Chad for anything too. But the problem with that was, Chad most likely wouldn't tell Troy what it was Troy left him to deal with on his own.

"I really need to talk to him." Troy muttered out loud, just before the sound of the bathroom door creaked again.

Troy looked up to se Jason walking in, and nodded to his friend. The bell signaling the end of the period than rang throughout the halls.

"Finally, lunch!" Jason cheered. "See you in the cafeteria Troy." Jason called before rushing into one of the stalls.

Troy nodded to no one, and walked out or the restroom hoping Chad would show up for his favorite period.

* * *

Chad wasn't sitting at their table when Troy walked into the cafeteria. Chad didn't appear to be at any of the other tables either. So Troy reluctantly sat down next to his concerned girlfriend, surrounded by all his friends except the one he wanted to talk to. He didn't speak much as everyone else started conversing about the big game coming up and other things that weren't even crossing his mind at the moment. Troy instead, spent most of his time wondering as he gazed at the people around him, how many of them knew what had been going on with Chad when he didn't, and how many of them would still be sitting at this table after today. But the more he thought about it, the less sure he was about everything. Troy decided he hated thinking. It made him feel stupid. 

Troy's thoughts were interrupted by a shrill voice behind him, "Hello guys!"

"Sharpay!" Zeke shouted with a grin. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could sit here with you guys for lunch today?" The glittering blond girl asked with a smile.

"Of course!" Taylor readily agreed, then noticed the others staring at her with shocked faces. "What? I'm just being friendly…"

"Thank you Taylor." Sharpay replied with a sickly sweet grin, and put her tray down next to the dark girl.

"We were just talking about Chad's new wardrobe." Zeke informed the girl and scooted his chair closer to her.

"Yeah, but Taylor won't admit she was the one behind it!" Jason added in with a laugh.

"I wasn't!" Taylor denied, before turning to Sharpay. "But, I will say that whatever the reason, he looks a whole lot better than he has in a while!"

"I think so too." Sharpay smirked. "His new look is a big step up for him. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a guy being fashionable."

"Really?" Zeke asked, attention completely on his blonde goddess. "I agree!"

"Since when?" Jason asked Zeke with a confused look.

"Since always!" The cooking jock said through his teeth, jabbing his friend with elbow.

"So where's Ryan?" Taylor asked the Drama Queen curiously.

"Oh, he's hanging out in the auditorium." She answered the other girl lively. "He wanted to run through lines or something. He said he was going to eat lunch on his own, in his dressing room I think, he's fine." The blonde assured Taylor.

"The auditorium! Of course!" Troy suddenly shouted, standing. "I'm an idiot!"

"Troy!" Gabriella called after him as he ran from the cafeteria.

* * *

Troy reached the dressing rooms behind the auditorium without stopping for anyone. He swung open Ryan's, to disappointingly find no one inside. He was about to move to check backstage, when he noticed something on the desk inside the room. It was a photo in a clear frame, and Troy could tell even from this distance that one of the people in it was Chad. The playmaker walked into the room and over to pick up the photo. It was of Ryan sitting on Chad's lap, on an expensive looking couch. Both boys were grinning widely, almost as if they were laughing when the picture was taken; and it looked like Chad was tickling the other boy. 

Troy then noticed a bag behind him on the other side of the room, which looked suspiciously similar to the one Chad had been carrying that morning. He walked over to unzip the bag and see if it really was his friend's, when behind him the door opened. It quickly shut and was locked behind the two figures that entered. Troy didn't even have to glance behind him to know who they were.

"Are you sure you don't want to grab something to eat first?" Ryan asked rather breathlessly between kisses with the darker boy, pressed impossibly close to him with his arms wrapped around the other's neck.

"Am I not acting sure?" Chad replied teasingly, quickly pausing to throw his expensive leather jacket on a chair next to them. He then grabbed Ryan's hat and threw it in the same direction as he continued. "I've got a better idea for how we can spend lunch period."

"Hey!" Ryan pouted as his hat was flung from him. The boy was soon smiling again though when Chad pulled him close. "That hat better not get wrinkled."

"How can a _hat _get wrinkled?" Chad laughed as he kissed the blond and lifted him onto the desk.

Ryan let out a fake dramatic sigh. "I've so much to teach you." The Drama King smiled before pulling the other back in for a heavier kiss, hands going to start to pull out the hair tie holding back the basketball player's signature locks.

"I think I know enough…" One of Chad's own hands went to grip the back of the blonde's head to deepen their kiss, while the other went to the zipper of Ryan's pants. "Like that _these_ shouldn't be on anymore."

"Mind always in the gutter." Ryan playfully mocked as he nibbled on the other's neck, but soon let out a gasp and threw his head back.

Chad's hand was in the blonde's pants, and the darker boy was grinning in triumph at the other's reaction. "You want me to stop?"

"Don't. You. Dare." Ryan let out through gritted teeth, clinging on the straps of Chad's tank top.

"I didn't think so." Chad grinned and pushed the paler boy down on the desk, leaning over him.

It was at this point once again, Troy decided he wasn't going to be able to talk to Chad like he wanted to. He hadn't been watching the couple this time, and had tried to focus on the stitches of the bag in his hands, trying to figure out how to get out of the room without them noticing him. Troy figured the best way would be to just walk out the door as quietly at possible. But the second he turned around to try and do so, he saw Ryan's legs wrapped around his best friend's waist, he couldn't hold in the exclamation.

"Oh my god…" Troy's hand went to cover his eyes, even though he knew it was going on behind him, actually seeing it was something completely different.

Chad and Ryan sprung apart in fear at the sound of the boy's voice, but when they saw _who_ it was…again…Chad just burst out laughing and had to hold onto the desk with his hands so he wouldn't fall over. Ryan, however, was less amused, rolled his eyes and glared at the playmaker.

"We should really go out and buy some 'do not disturb' signs." Ryan suggested sarcastically. "Or just some Troy Bolton sensors or something."

"Dude, if you want to join in, you just have to ask!" Chad chuckled at the wide-eyed stares he got from his boyfriend and best friend.

"No! Uh…that's not…" Troy immediately tried to answer.

"That's not happening!" Ryan corrected the other flatly.

"I'm just kidding!" Chad continued laughing. "Seriously man, _what_ are you doing in here?"

"I uh, well came looking for you when Sharpay said that Ryan was in the auditorium, I figured you would be too. And I checked the dressing room first because I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't see you in here, but then I saw the picture and then your bag and I _was_ going to leave but then you guys came in…and I was gonna try and leave quietly but I turned around and well, I guess I couldn't keep my mouth shut…" Troy rambled as Chad started laughing again.

"Is this going to keep happening the entire ski trip too?" Chad joked at his friend.

"You're still going?" Troy asked hopefully.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I thought…" Troy tried to explain and looked at Ryan who was glaring at him again. "Uh…well you just weren't coming to class so I thought you might've changed your mind."

"Nah, I just didn't want to hear anymore stupid comments about the clothes." Chad brushed off the comment easily. "Besides, it's the last week of school before vacation, it's not like we're doing anything important."

"I told you, Chad, that's not true. Darbus's giving a test at the end of the week." Ryan interjected as he slid off the table to go grab his hat.

"And _I_ told you I don't care." Chad reminded his boyfriend. Then he shot his hands out and pulled the other close by the waist. "And what are you frowning about?" Chad warned playfully, before started to tickle the boy mercilessly.

"S-stop it!!" Ryan cried through giggles as he bent over in a desperate futile attempt to escape the other's fingers.

"Now _that's_ more of the face I like to see." Chad smiled, as he and the blond were now both on the ground and he was still holding Ryan closely to him, slowly letting up on the tickling.

Troy chuckled lightly. "So, I'll see you guys at Zeke's locker later?"

"Yup." Chad nodded, focus back on tickling the blond now laying on his back on the floor barely able to laugh because he was giggling so hard. Chad then got a fairly sadistic smile on him and moved his face level with the blond. "Now Ryan, say 'see you later Troy'!"

"S-see you l-later T-t-troy!" Ryan gasped out, tears streaking down his cheeks from the tickling pain his boyfriend was inflicting on him.

"Bye guys…" Troy laughed with a shake of his head and walked out of the room, closing the door securely behind him.

* * *

The rest of the school day went by pretty fast. Troy couldn't concentrate on any of his lessons, and he didn't think Gabriella could either because when she was called on in their English class, she hadn't even heard the question she'd been asked. Troy remembered in the second to last period to ask Jason and Zeke if they could attend the ski trip the next week, to which they both told him that they could've sworn they had RSVP'd him over the weekend. Troy told them that they were all going to meet at Zeke's locker later, because he had to tell them something important—to which they both agreed although gave him questioning looks when they did. 

By the time the last bell rang, Troy was more nervous than he had been for the callback auditions. He was shaking just as badly at the very least, and was surprised he didn't trip on the way to Zeke's locker. He really wanted this to work out. He didn't want everyone to turn against his best friend, because he was scared he wouldn't be able to defend his friend well enough. It was almost as if _he _was the one coming out, although Chad being his best friend, he guessed in a way it was like that…he couldn't help but wonder where his confidence from this morning had gone. Gabriella must've noticed his nervousness, because he felt her suddenly grip his hand with her own, and he turned his head to see her smiling encouragingly back at him.

"You ready?" Gabriella asked him with a smile.

"Ready?" Troy suddenly asked fearfully.

Gabriella giggled in response, shaking her head slightly and just pointing her finger ahead of them. Troy followed the direction she was gesturing, and saw about five feet ahead of them the whole group huddled around Zeke's small locker. Sharpay looked incredibly calm, though Troy couldn't possibly understand _how_ she could be, and was casually leaning back against the metal smiling widely. Ryan and Chad were standing across from each other, occasionally sending each other nervous glances. The rest of the group was chatting about something they couldn't hear.

"Oh right, that." Troy nodded. "Guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

"Troy." Gabriella quickly reached for Troy's other hand so he was facing her completely. "I just want you to know…whatever happens with everybody else, what you're doing for Chad and Ryan, it makes you a good friend. Regardless of how everyone else reacts, the fact that you're going to be there backing him up _I know_ means a lot to Chad. You understand that, right?"

"Even if it hurts Taylor?" The words came out of Troy before he could stop them.

Gabriella bit her lip and glanced down, before taking a breath and looking back at him. "…yes, not telling her wouldn't change the truth anyway. Besides, I was talking to her earlier, and I found out a little more about the person she likes—I don't think it's Chad…I hope it's not at least." Troy and Gabriella stared at the floor for a moment, still holding hands. "Well, ready to go?"

Troy nodded again. "Yup, let's go."

The couple walked over to the little group huddled in a circle with nervous smiles.

"Well, it's about time!" Sharpay immediately cut the tension with a complaint.

"_Sharpay_," Ryan hushed from next to her.

"What? They were late! The last bell rang several minutes ago. Am I not allowed to mention that fact?" Sharpay defended her exclamation with crossed arms.

Ryan just rolled his eyes with a smile. "Whatever you say…"

"So, what're we all doing here, Troy?" Zeke asked the team leader, cheerfully directing all the attention back on Troy.

"Actually…_I'm_ the reason we're all here." Chad corrected, raising a hand as if he wanted to be called on.

"You are?" Sharpay raised an eyebrow, having not expected Chad to be the one to be doing the talking.

"I'm not?" Chad suddenly asked, extremely confused, and now nervous as well.

"Well, I guess technically _we're _the reason…" Ryan started, but trailed off when he saw his sister giving him the same look she'd given Chad.

"I thought I was going to be the one…" Troy stated, pointing to himself as he did so.

"I'm confused." Kelsi announced, looking from Chad to Ryan to Sharpay to Troy.

"Me too." Taylor nodded in agreement. "What's going on?"

"Yeah," Jason added intelligently while Zeke just stared patiently and expectantly at Sharpay to explain.

"Well," Troy started, taking the reins again. "You guys all know about the ski trip next week, right?"

"Yeah…" Taylor nodded slowly for everyone, seeming to start to get impatient.

Troy glanced at the floor again, finding it difficult to look in Taylor's direction or any of his friends for that matter as he spoke. "Well, we were all talking this morning…and well, we thought it'd be important for you guys to…"

"'We'?" Kelsi suddenly asked for clarification. "You mean you and Gabriella?"

"No, he means him, Gabriella, Chad, Ryan, and me." Sharpay quickly corrected, scaring Troy with the readiness of her answer.

"…Yeah," Troy nodded. "Anyway…we thought you guys should know…" Troy couldn't bring himself to say anything past that. "We thought…"

"Ryan and I are dating!" Chad shouted suddenly, then quickly looked around to double check that nobody else was in the hallway, and thankfully he couldn't see anyone. He moved next to Ryan (which he managed to do without meeting anyone in the group's eyes) and put an arm around the boy's waist. "We've been dating for a while now. We just wanted you guys to know before the ski trip. So you didn't get shocked seeing us up there or whatever…"

There was silence over the group, and neither Chad nor Troy could bring themselves to look up at anyone. But Troy could see out of the corner of his eye Sharpay, staring threateningly like the mountain lion Chad had so often compared her to, at anyone who seemed to dare look at the couple next to her. Taylor was the first to speak.

"You're gay…?" The dark girl stated more than questioned, forcing everyone to look at her. Chad slowly nodded, seemingly not able to find his voice anymore. Taylor's face slowly broke into a smile, and her eyes looked watery. "Oh my god…" She broke out, not in crying, but **giggling**, almost laughing. "Oh my god!" She ran over to hug Chad, who was frozen in shock. She backed away after a moment, staring while covering her mouth as she continued laughing, with tears running down her face. "I don't believe it—since when?"

Chad continued to just look at her, mouth open in shock at the girl, so Ryan answered for him. "Since around when you wouldn't partner with Chad on that project after your 'date' didn't go so well. The project Darbus handed out about a month ago, we paired up instead since Sharpay was with Zeke. And we just…clicked I guess."

"I don't believe it…" Taylor let out a round of giggles/tears, covering her mouth as she did so again. She looked back up at Chad and brought her hand down to point to herself. "I am too."

"What?" Chad and Kelsi sputtered at the same time.

"I'm gay too." Taylor laughed at the irony of the situation. "I've known ever since our 'date'."

"I didn't know that…" Gabriella whispered softly, that no one other than Troy probably heard her.

"You're kidding…" Chad started laughing too. Taylor shook her head, letting out more giggles. "Aw, come here!" Chad laughed and pulled his friend into another hug as they both erupted in laughs with tears wetting both their cheeks.

"Congratulations Taylor." Sharpay nodded in approval. "Props for coming out on your own without help."

"Thanks Sharpay." Taylor smiled, wiping her eyes with her hand.

"So this mystery person you've had a crush on…" Gabriella put together.

"Yeah." Taylor nodded, breaking her hug with Chad. "It's a girl. Oh, but don't worry, it's not you Gabriella."

"Oh…" Gabriella mumbled, nodding because she didn't know what else to do.

"So…you're gay Chad…?" Zeke frowned at the boy, looking uncomfortable.

"That _is_ what he just said Zeke." Sharpay snapped, pushed off the wall and strutted over to him with a predatory look on her face—going into protective older sister mode. "And you should know, neither me nor my brother discriminate against who we date on the basis of gender, so if you have a problem with this," she gestured to Ryan and Chad, "we're over **right now**. So, what were you saying to Chad?" Sharpay finished with an evil smile.

Zeke had a very frightened look, frozen for almost half a minute before he turned to Chad. "Congratulations, man!" He gave his friend a double thumbs-up, though his face was still pulled back in terror.

"Thanks Zeke." Chad nodded sarcastically, half pitying and half laughing at the boy.

"So wait, Sharpay…" Troy suddenly asked confused. "You're gay too…?"

"Technically, bisexual." Sharpay corrected facing Troy. "After all, it's the inside that counts, right?" She put her hands on her hips, as if daring him to challenge her.

"That's a cool way of putting it…" Gabriella answered slowly.

"Gabriella????" Troy turned to her, slightly scared.

"I'm just saying!" Gabriella put her hands and shoulders up in defense. "It's an interesting way to think…"

"You are all sick!" Jason suddenly yelled, surprising the whole group. "I can't believe you're all supporting and agreeing with…with _this!_" He threw a hand in the direction of Chad and Ryan.

"Jason, calm down!" Kelsi whispered loudly, rushing to put her hands on his arms.

"No!" The dark haired boy threw her off, though she was luckily caught by Zeke. "This is disgusting, and I can't believe you guys don't think so too! I mean, Zeke, do you realize all those times we were in the changing room with _that!_ The _showers_?? Who knows how many times he snuck looks at us and thought things…ugh! And we trusted him! How can this not sicken you? It's _disgusting!_"

"Dude, I swear, I never looked at you guys…" Chad tried to defend himself, and slowly walked over to Jason.

"Get away from me you freak!" Jason pushed the other boy hard back against the lockers.

"Jason!" Kelsi cried out at her boyfriend's sudden burst of violence.

"Chad!" Ryan shouted worried and crouched down next to him to make sure he was okay.

"I can't believe you!" Jason hissed at the dark boy on the ground. "What, one bad date and you suddenly give up on the opposite sex? You're pathetic!"

"Hey! There's a _lot_ more involved in it than just that!" Taylor attempted to defend.

"Yeah, twisted minds, you sicko!" Jason furiously glared at her as he spat the words. "Insanity and being fucked up beyond belief—that's what it takes to start chasing after the same sex! You oughta be shot, you freaks!" The boy spun around on a heel and hissed "come on, Kelsi, let's get out of here." He started to storm off.

The curly brunette turned and glanced sadly at the remaining group, looking very small beneath her white hat and behind her glasses. "I'm sorry." She whispered softly.

"Kelsi!" Jason shouted, already down the hall.

"Coming!" She yelled back. With one last look and "see you" to her friends, she ran off after Jason.

Sharpay gave an undignified gasp, as if she'd been simply insulted. "How rude!"

"_That's_ all you have to say?" Taylor turned to the blonde girl shocked.

"We knew coming into this that it wasn't likely _everyone_ was going to be okay with this. Personally, I think it went over pretty well. Are you okay Chad?" Sharpay turned to clarify.

"Yeah…" The boy groaned as Ryan helped him stand. "Just a bump on my head…"

Sharpay twirled back to Taylor. "See? Even better than expected! You can't ask for more than that. Now we should focus on more important things—like what we're bringing on the ski trip!" Sharpay clapped her hands excitedly in front of her. "I actually saw the _cutest_ ski outfit in the store the other day when we were shopping for Chad! I just _have _to get it today…they better still have it." She started to skip off, before turning back to them. "Come _on! _It's _shopping time!_" She then continued skipping off towards her car.

"That girl is unbelievable." Taylor shook her head.

"She does have a point though." Troy argued, causing everyone to stare at him confused. "I mean, there's no use worrying over this now, right?"

"Yeah," Ryan equally surprisingly agreed. "And shopping does take your mind off things."

"Okay, are you _sure_ you're a boy Ryan?" Chad asked jokingly, trying to break the tension. Ryan just glared and hit him in the arm. "Ouch! I was kidding!"

"Oh well, I guess off to the store then?" Taylor surrendered.

"I guess." Gabriella shrugged her shoulders.

The group tried to calm the worry they were each secretly feeling, and followed the glittery blond out the door.

* * *

I really hope the end didn't seem too rushed or anti-climatic. I really did have trouble ending it, so I decided to let Sharpay take control again. 

The next chapter should be up fairly soon. We'll finally get to the condo!

Please continue to review!


	7. Dividing Up

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! It was incredibly hard to write--not because of any writer's block, but just because I really wanted to get through it and unfortunately it's one of those filler chapters where important information is told but little happens. But thank you all so much for all the reviews for the last chapter! I promise things will be speeding up in the next one though.

I'm so glad most everyone reacted positively to Sharpay's and Taylor's coming out. I was so close to not doing that, but Sharpay wouldn't let me chicken out, and as always, she knew better than me! I'm also thrilled at all of the predictions of what's going to happen! It makes writing the story so much fun when there are readers actually guessing what's going to happen.

**Dedication: **Poppyfields13 for leaving the longest and most detailed review that I have ever received.Thank you so much!

* * *

**My Best Friend's Secret**

**Part 7: **Dividing Up

* * *

"Okay, is everyone packed and ready to go?" Ms. Montez smiled at the exhausted teens lying all over her couches and chairs in their living room. 

"I thought we still had an hour…!" Troy struggled to lift his head off the sofa to look the cheerful woman in the face.

"We do." She smiled back at him brightly. "And now, you have a whole hour to relax before we leave! And since the bags and suitcases are already in the car, you'll just be able to just sit down and get ready to enjoy the ride when it's time to go!" The tan woman patted the fatigued boy's arm as he laid back down. "Now, I'll go make us some lunch, and pack some more snacks for the ride up!"

Ms. Montez happily skipped off to the kitchen, as if unaware of the pain the kids in her living room were in. Troy moaned and closed his eyes, still attempting to calm his throbbing muscles from all the work Gabriella's mom had forced them to do, as did Zeke and Taylor on the chairs next to him.

"Remote…too…far….!" Taylor stretched out an arm to small table inches away from her fingers where the TV remote sat taunting her.

"Explain to me again what the point of going through _all_ our bags, repacking all the equipment, stuffing it all into the car, all an hour before we have to go is helpful?" Zeke groaned not moving anything more than his mouth.

"My mom likes to get everything done perfectly and early. This way if we realize we didn't pack something, we still have a lot of time to find it and get it safely in the car without losing any time." Gabriella explained with a smile, the only one whose muscles weren't screaming in pain.

"Is that why you aren't exhausted?" Troy forced his head again to turn and meet another Montez's eyes. "You do this every year?"

"Yup." Gabriella nodded.

"You're crazy!" Zeke yelled from the other side of the room.

"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad…" The Einsteinette reasoned with her friends.

"Yes it was." Taylor groaned in argument. "Skiing better be fun!"

"It wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been for all that stupid shopping Sharpay dragged us around to do _every day_ the past _week_. I should've known there was a catch to her buying everything for us…" Troy grumbled at himself.

"Don't badmouth Sharpay!" Zeke yelled again, still not able to open his eyes. "She's not to blame for your lack of endurance!"

"Says the boy who can't move." Taylor observed, forcing herself to sit up.

"Do you hear me blaming her?" The dark boy countered, still not budging a muscle.

"That's because you two are dating." The girl snapped back, leaning over to look at him.

"Yes! And I'd like to keep it that way…" Zeke managed a nod, though not to open his eyes. Taylor threw one of the pillows on her chair at his face. "…ouch!"

Then all of them jumped startled when a loud annoying ringing filled the room from the phone on the coffee table. Gabriella quickly reached and answered it, while the others listened.

"…hello?" She started off formally, but then quickly smiled widely. "Oh! Kelsi! How are…oh, of course! Absolutely! … Oh, don't worry about it, it's totally fine…oh _really?_ That's wonderful! Of course you can! Do you know where my house is? …great! We're leaving in about an hour. But don't worry, we'll wait for you…_yes, _we have more than enough room—in the condo and in the car too. Is Jason…? Oh, okay…no, it's not a problem at all…yes, I promise. We'd never do that to you, Kelsi. You totally can. No matter what—oh, okay we'll talk about it at the condo, okay? Oh! Do you have skis or should we order them for you...oh, don't worry about it! I'll teach you, okay? It'll be so much fun! Can't wait to see you! Bye!" Gabriella cheerfully hung up the phone.

"I take it Kelsi's coming with us?" Taylor inferred, feeling less sore.

"Yup." Gabriella smiled at her best friend.

"And Jason…?" Troy asked sitting up seriously.

"Is not." The Einsteinette frowned sadly.

Troy was silent for a moment, before leaning back against the couch with a sigh. "Good…one less thing to deal with this trip." He rested the back of his hands against his forehead, and stared at the ceiling.

The rest of the week since Chad and Ryan's "coming out" scene had actually been relatively calm. Coach had cancelled basketball practice since it was the last week, and Chad had avoided most of his teammates except for Troy and Zeke. Neither Jason nor Kelsi had spoken to anyone in the group, and stuck with their other teammates. Jason would glare or give a disgusted stare whenever he saw any of his former friends in the hallway, while Kelsi would avoid eye contact whenever she came across them. Troy was surprised when he actually _didn't _get any calls or questions from his team, and he began to wonder whether or not Jason had told anyone else. It felt like everyone knew though, like whenever the couple walked down the hallway, it was them everyone else was talking about. But as Sharpay had continuously reminded their group the entire week, since no one was being seriously bothered by anyone else gossiping yet, they shouldn't bother to worry about it.

"So when's Kelsi coming?" Taylor questioned her best friend, trying to keep the conversation going, and avoid the awkward silence they seemed to be falling into.

"She said she'd be heading right over. She's got her own equipment and everything. But, apparently she and Jason had a fight or something…" Gabriella trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

And since Sharpay said so, the couple seemed to take her "no worry" advice to heart. Ryan and Chad were slowly becoming more openly affectionate in front of their friends as the week went on. Small things, like touching each other's arms for no real reason, leaning on the other boy's shoulder, wrapping an arm around a waist or back, and once in a while a small peck on the other's cheek. They weren't so open while in the hallways at school, but when the two were just hanging out at each other's house or the mall after school with everyone, they seemed to becoming much more comfortable around their friends. When the group had gone shopping, although Sharpay had really been the one picking out all of the ski outfits for everyone (which for the Drama Queen, meant not only snow pants, sweatpants, coats, gloves, goggles, jackets, long-sleeve shirts, turtlenecks, boots, fleeces, socks, but also sneakers, bathing suits, pajamas, and outfits just to wear around the condo), if Ryan started asking him to wear it, Chad would quickly try on just about anything no matter how bold—so long as the blond boy offered a kiss for it or was holding his arm. It made Troy wonder if by dating an Evans, a guy automatically lost all their willpower to disagree with one.

"Wait, so Kelsi's going in your car Gabriella?" Zeke tried to confirm, obviously confused.

"Yeah…" The Einsteinette nodded as everyone stared at Zeke strangely.

"But…with all of the bags and stuff in the car, where's Chad gonna sit?" The basketball player turned his head to his team captain for an answer; who was preoccupied with staring out into space.

"Chad's going in Ryan and Sharpay's car." Gabriella explained for Troy as if the fact was obvious—which as far as she knew, it was.

"What!?" Zeke immediately sat up straight. "Why does _he_ get to go in their car? That's not fair!"

"Because Sharpay offered to drive him up…" Taylor explained plainly. "She asked him yesterday, remember?"

"No!" Zeke fell back against the chair he sat in, frustrated. "I would've gone in their car too if I'd been offered. Why didn't she ask me…?"

There was one very notable change that occurred during the week which was most significant for Chad's best friend. Gabriella even noticed—which made Troy extremely proud of himself—that the star Wildcat was also becoming more comfortable around the couple. Somehow, acting as an almost bodyguard for his best friend's relationship had made accepting them much easier. No one in school, or at the mall for that matter, had tried anything with the couple. Occasionally Ryan and Chad had received several rude looks and some pointing, but every time Troy had been there to glare right back. Of course Sharpay had too, or shouted rudely and loudly "what are you staring at?", which would immediately snub any person's resolve for hurting the couple, but Troy nevertheless had made it his mission to be there to back up his friend in case Chad did ever need it.

"Maybe you two aren't as close as you thought…" Taylor teased with a laugh at Zeke's reaction.

"What are you talking about…? What do you know?" Zeke suddenly sat up again, turning to face Taylor as best he could, with a desperate look on his face. "Is she in love with somebody else? Is she cheating on me? Did she want to break up?"

Gabriella laughed loudly with Taylor. "I think she was joking Zeke…"

"But then why did she invite Chad into her car and not me?" The poor boy buried his face in his hands, obviously feeling very abandoned. "I would've at least kept her company…"

"Maybe she just wanted to get to know Chad better since he's dating her brother…" Troy added absent-mindedly, still focused on the ceiling.

Which then brought up the one definite thing that hadn't changed: Even though Troy was more accepting of the couple than he was before, and making a conscious effort to show as much support for them as possible, Ryan and Troy's relationship hadn't improved in the slightest. Although the brunet was glaring off rude shoppers and less-than-friendly peers, the blue-eyed-blond was still shooting glares just as harshly back at Troy. Even Chad was beginning to notice, and would always sigh or frown whenever he saw the tension between the two, although he had yet to say anything to Troy about it. What annoyed the basketball captain the most was the fact that he didn't even know specifically _why_ Ryan seemed to have this buried anger at him. This was the main problem the Wildcat superstar planned on working on that week—he would fix this whole grudge problem Ryan seemed to have with him.

"Troy…?" Gabriella noticed the playmaker's silence and reached to touch her boyfriend's arm in concern, when she was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Oh! That must be Kelsi!"

"Wow, she got here fast." Taylor commented as her best friend rose to answer the door.

"Well, she said she'd already packed her bags for the trip and everything earlier…" The dark haired girl explained as she walked over to let her other friend in.

"Seriously—did she say anything about me like, when we went shopping or something…?" Zeke badgered Taylor for more information.

"You aren't very confident in your relationship, are you?" Taylor smirked embarrassedly at the questioning boy.

"W-what gives you that idea?" Zeke demanded weakly.

"Hey guys…" Kelsi announced softly as she entered the room with Gabriella following her closely behind.

"Hey Kelsi." Troy greeted her with a smile, still not moving from his spot on the couch.

"Oh! Kelsi, welcome! So you did decide to come after all. Here, let me put your bags in the car!" Gabriella's mom informed quickly with a smile as she entered the room and saw the girl standing there. "Oh sit down! There's a seat right next to Troy—don't worry about a thing! We'll be leaving in about half an hour."

"Thank you Miss Montez…" Kelsi nodded shyly and slowly moved to sit next to Troy, avoiding eye contact with most of the room as Gabriella's mother took the small girl's bag and rushed it outside. A heavy silence started to fall onto the room, and Kelsi took a deep breath, put on a strong face as she gained the courage to ask "so, what were you all talking about?"

"Oh, just that Sharpay might be dumping Zeke because she didn't invite him to drive up to the condo with her when she invited Chad." Taylor explained in a friendly voice to Kelsi.

"That's not true! She's not dumping me!" Zeke immediately corrected Taylor, before quickly turning to Kelsi. "You haven't heard her say anything, have you?"

"See?" Taylor laughed to the brown haired girl.

"Oh, I'm sure that's not the reason she didn't invite you…" Kelsi tried to be encouraging. "She probably…trusted you enough to know you wouldn't get upset over her not inviting you and spending time with her brother instead."

"Yeah…" Zeke nodded, apparently calmed by the curly haired girl's explanation. "Yeah, that's probably it. That must've been the reason. She trusts me. And I trust her." Zeke declared leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms confidently.

Taylor turned to look at the other two girls, eyebrows raised and a growing grin on her face. The others looked back in silence for a moment with similar faces, before all three of them burst out laughing. Zeke stared confused at the girls while Troy shook his head and chuckled softly.

"What's so funny?" The dark boy asked confused.

"Nothing…" Troy insisted with a chuckle.

* * *

The drive up to the condo was fairly long, but the group of friends kept themselves entertained through chatter and conversations about everything _but_ what they were really all thinking in their heads. Worries about what Jason and the team were going to be doing and speaking about during their Winter Vacation break, nervousness about how things were going to go and how they'll all get along during their time together that week, and the fear that someone wasn't going to be able to take being around a certain couple so badly that they'd blow up. And in Troy's mind specifically, the dread that by spending a full week with the boy, he may end up getting along with Ryan worse than he already was.

But their thoughts were all halted when Miss Montez turned into the row of similar looking condos and pulled up right outside theirs. Climbing out of the car, the teens assisted Gabriella's mom with unloading the car and placing the bags in the dining room—deciding to wait until the Evans's car showed up to sort out the rooms (with the explanation that if Sharpay didn't totally approve, they'd have to move all the room assignments again anyway when she arrived). The Montez's condo was fairly large—or at least it seemed so to the teens who really hadn't gone skiing before. It was two floors, with a basement. The top floor had four bedrooms and a bathroom; the main floor had a living room with a fireplace and big TV, a dining room, small kitchen, a bathroom and a special separate area for storing skis, ski boots, poles, and snowboards, and the basement had a Jacuzzi, a game room, a bathroom, and two small extra bedrooms with bunk beds that were rarely used.

The group of friends huddled around in the living room watching TV as they waited for the others. Miss Montez started up the hot cocoa machine, and everyone had a cup. The group opened up their game bag, and started playing Uno, Monopoly, and several rounds of Jenga (nearly all of which Zeke had lost, although he'd been saved by both Troy and Gabriella toppling the tower before him twice). After some time, Miss Montez announced she was going to head upstairs to her usual room with her bags, wanting to get settled down for the night. Before she left though, she warned Gabriella that since it was already 8PM (much to the Einsteinette's and her friends' shock, as it still felt early to them) she would probably fall asleep before the other teens arrived, so Gabriella or one of them would have to be ready answer the door in case she did.

Half an hour later, the gang had not heard anymore from Miss Montez, so it was safe to assume she was sleeping or getting ready to fall asleep. The teens at that moment were involved in the middle of a very intense game of Jenga.

"No…no….no come on! Stay, stay…no!!" Zeke cried out as the shaky tower made of tiny rectangles toppled once again in Kelsi's direction (who shrieked and jumped out of the way before the pieces could cover her lap again) as the rest of the group laughed.

"Zeke, buddy, do us all a favor and never go into construction, okay?" Troy chuckled.

"Ha-ha, very funny." Zeke grumbled as he went to pick up the wooden pieces, and was assisted by Kelsi. "Thanks."

"No problem." The brown haired girl smiled nervously back at him.

"Here, I'll help…" Gabriella informed as she bent over to pick up some of the blocks that had fallen further than one would expect given how small the tower had seemed, and at that moment there was a loud rapping at the door, announcing the Evans' arrival.

"I'll get it!" Taylor announced and stepped over Zeke to rush to open the door to reveal the Drama Queen, while Chad and Ryan were unloading the car. "Hey guys, about time you got here. We were starting to get a bit worried."

"_What_ are you wearing?" Sharpay demanded before even stepping into the condo, looking the other girl up and down.

"Excuse me?" Taylor asked insulted by the other girl's greeting, looking down at her simple T-shirt and sweatpants ensemble; while Sharpay's looked like something out of a Ski modeling magazine in a bright pink glittering jacket with matching hat and leggings.

Zeke meanwhile was quickly shoving the remaining blocks into the cardboard box, before rushing over to the door to happily greet his blond goddess. "Hey Sharpay! Do you need any help carrying your bags in?"

"Yeah sure, whatever." Sharpay waved off her admirer, who swiftly set to work helping the boys unload the car. Her attention never leaving the dark girl in front of her, she stepped into the condo and continued her criticisms with a frown. "That is _not_ one of the outfits I bought you. _That_ is hideous."

"Well sorry!" Taylor snapped back. "I forgot your outfits at my house." Taylor lied through her teeth, as she had purposely 'forgotten' the many over-the-top outfits the Drama Queen had bought for her that week, untouched in their bags in the back of her closet.

"Hey Taylor." Chad nodded as he carried three bags into the condo at once, barely keeping balance before dropping them in the dining room with a grateful sigh.

"Hi Chad." Taylor nodded in return.

"I expected you'd do something like this." Sharpay informed the girl with a scheming grin. "Chad!"

"Huh?" Chad turned, mid-shake 'hello' with Troy.

"Go get the bag of backup clothes I brought for Taylor. It's in the back of the car." The blonde ordered her brother's boyfriend as Ryan entered carrying two bags.

"Bag of _what?_" The science geek shouted at the Drama Queen.

"You're joking…" Chad groaned at the girl and slouched over in disappointment.

"What was that, Danforth?" Sharpay brought her hand up to her ear for dramatic effect.

"Right away Sharpay!" Chad answered with forced enthusiasm, which immediately disappeared once he started walking out towards the car.

"You brought Taylor an extra bag of clothes…?" Gabriella asked, walking over towards the doorway.

"Well, _duh!_ I had a feeling she'd end up not using the outfits I spent all that money on, so I bought a few extra. After all, I'm going to be taking _pictures,_ most likely, around this condo, and I can't have her in my album dressed like _that!_" Sharpay explained matter-of-factly, throwing her hand in a dramatic gesture in Taylor's direction as Zeke entered with several bags. "It'd make everything else look horrible."

"You've got to be kidding…" The dark girl commented, shaking her head at the other.

"Okay…here it is…" Chad groaned, carrying a fairly large pink bag into the condo. "Why are bags of clothes so heavy…?"

"Not as easy as you thought…?" Ryan teased, walking over and placing a hand on the darker boy's back. "Maybe you need to work out more."

"No, it's gotta be those stupid rhinestones…" Chad grinned and kissed the paler boy's cheek. "Come on, I need to sit down." Ryan chuckled as the boys moved to sit on the couch.

"Just because you can dress Chad up, doesn't mean you can force me to wear those clothes." Taylor informed, crossing her arms. "I brought my own, and I don't need yours."

"I am not having someone in gray sweatpants in my photo album for this trip!" Sharpay put her hands on her hips in defiance of the other girl.

"We didn't go on this trip for you to take pictures!" The darker girl argued back.

"But I _will_ be." Sharpay explained as if her words ended the discussion. "Now, I'm tired, so where are the rooms?" The blond turned to Gabriella sharply.

"Excuse me! I'm still talking to you!" Taylor reminded annoyed.

"Well, they're upstairs, but we didn't exactly decide on rooms yet…" The dark haired girl shrugged, giving a sympathetic face towards her best friend. "We're probably going to need two to a room, and then one pair's going to have to be downstairs since my mom's already upstairs…"

"Ugh, do I have to do everything…?" Sharpay rolled her eyes frustrated.

"Actually, we were waiting—" Troy started to explain.

"Fine. I'll room with Taylor so I can make sure she dresses appropriately." The blond quickly decided, before grabbing one of her many bags, and then her bag of Taylor's clothes both with one hand and Taylor's wrist with her other. "Come on."

"Hey! I didn't agree to that!" Taylor protested, blushing as the other girl pulled her along.

"You can finish arguing upstairs." Sharpay smiled before starting to walk up the stairs.

Taylor turned to look at Gabriella, who rose her hands and shoulders in a helpless gesture, mouthing "sorry!"

"Goodnight Sharpay!" Zeke called up the stairs.

"Well, that will be interesting…" Troy decided, looking at his girlfriend who nodded in agreement.

"I guess I'm not rooming with Taylor…" Gabriella smiled worriedly.

"So!" Chad grabbed everyone's attention by looking over the back of the couch towards his friends. "How are we dividing up the rest of the rooms?"

"Well, there are two more upstairs, and then we have two smaller ones downstairs." Gabriella explained. "I guess I'll take one of the ones downstairs…"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Troy immediately protested. "Girls don't go in the basement. You and Kelsi can take one of the rooms upstairs, and me and one of the guys will take the downstairs rooms."

"Are you sure?" Gabriella double-checked politely. "Because I really don't mind—"

"And neither do I!" Troy smiled, grabbing one of her hands. "There's a gameroom down there anyway, so we'll be perfectly happy down—hey!" Troy suddenly was hit with an idea turned towards the living room. "Ryan, wanna room together?"

"_What_?" The Drama King snapped his head in Troy direction with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah! I like that, that's an awesome idea Troy!" Chad nodded excitedly with a grin.

"It is?" Ryan looked at his boyfriend in shock. "But Chad, what about…?"

"Come on, please Ryan?" Chad asked softly to the blond boy. "I really want you to get along better with Troy."

"But—!" Ryan protested before moved to whisper something in his ear.

Troy stood and watched as Ryan's resolve seemed to slowly melt (though not without disappointment) at Chad's secret words. He noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Gabriella smiling proudly up at him, apparently pleased with him sticking his neck out to get along with his best friend's boyfriend. Troy couldn't help but smile embarrassedly back at her, suddenly feeling a lot more confident. He saw Zeke sitting patiently on the stairs, apparently totally content with the others picking where he slept, and Kelsi move to wait for Gabriella next to him.

"Please?" Troy heard his best friend's voice again and saw Chad giving Ryan what looked like puppy-dog eyes.

Ryan sighed heavily before answering "fine, alright."

"Yes!" Chad's grin quickly returned and he pulled the blond in for a quick kiss. "Thanks Ryan!" The darker boy winked "goodnight" at the paler before jumping up and walking over to the others. "Okay, so Zeke, you and me are upstairs?"

"I think that's what was decided." Zeke looked to his team captain for confirmation.

"Yup, and me and Ryan are in one of the rooms downstairs." Troy nodded.

Chad smiled and pulled his best friend in for a hug, whispering in his ear "thanks man, this really means a lot to me."

"No problem Chad. I want this to work too." Troy replied softly.

Chad pulled away and turned to the now mountain of bags in the dining room. "Okay, now which one of these stupid pink bags is mine…?"

"The one that says 'Chad'." Ryan informed, still sitting on the couch.

"Right!" The dark boy commented and grabbed one of the bags. "G'night guys!" Chad called as he rushed up the stairs, quickly followed by Zeke exiting in a similar fashion.

"Well, goodnight!" Gabriella smiled and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. "And good luck!" She added softly, as she and Kelsi started up the stairs.

Troy nodded as he watched his girlfriend walk up the carpeted stairway until he saw the hallway light turn out. He then slowly turned back towards the living room, and saw the blond boy still sitting on the couch, facing the wall and not in his direction. Unsure of what else to do, Troy stuck his hands in his pockets and looked around the room. He decided to grab his bag and make the first move, walking over to Ryan.

"Ready to head downstairs?" Troy asked awkwardly, as the blond was still refusing to look at him.

Ryan once again sighed heavily and stood. "I guess so…" He walked over to the living room and Troy noticed the one blue bag in the sea of pink. He went to grab it for Ryan before the other quickly commented annoyed "I've got it."

"Sorry." The playmaker stood and waited, embarrassed and trying to think of something else to say.

"No problem…" The Drama King breathed as he swung the bag over his shoulder.

As the boys headed over to the downward stairway, Troy once again tried to make conversation. "So have you ever—"

But he made the mistake of touching Ryan's arm.

Slapping the other boy's hand away, Ryan shut his eyes, eyebrows pulled down in glare and snapped "_Please_—don't touch me."

"Sorry Ryan." Troy immediately apologized and pulled his hand back as if he'd been burned.

"Whatever." Ryan walked down the stairs quickly, leaving Troy behind at the top.

_This is going to be a long week…_Troy sighed and looked up at the ceiling, before following the blond downstairs.

* * *

I really love torturing Troy...even in the second movie I don't think he went through enough, so don't really expect any more sympathy for him on my part. I probably need help for that. 

Anyway, just to clarify something--yes, Sharpay did not notice Kelsi in the room at all. She will be noticing her in the next chapter, so look forward to her reaction. And to some Ryan vs. Troy action, with Chad playing referee, and maybe if I can fit it in, a bit of what Jason's been up to during Winter Break. And of course, Sharpay playing dress-up with Taylor.

So please review!


	8. Boyfriend vs Best Friend

First off, I want to say I'm uploading this a lot earlier than I planned, as a last minute decision. I was originally going to add a lot more to this chapter, but the part here has so much in it, and I really wanted to update the fic, so since I was up late again, I decided to fix up what I had and post it. I'm warning you right now, this is probably the angstiest chapter yet, but the fluffliness and humor will return in the next one.

But this is what happens when I decide to put Troy and Ryan in the same room...it's not happy.

But it's an update. Sharpay and everyone else will return in the next chapter, I promise. But the first real showdown had to be it's own chapter.

* * *

**My Best Friend's Secret**

**Part 8:** Boyfriend vs. Best Friend

* * *

The boys walked in silence down the rest of the stairs, and still didn't say a word to each other as they passed the hot tub and game room. It wasn't until they were already in their room at the end of the hall, setting their bags onto the beds they chose (Troy the top bunk on the left, and Ryan the bottom on the right specifically because it was the furthest from the other boy) that the quiet finally got to Troy. The basketball star carefully jumped down the ladder and faced the Drama King. 

"Okay, why are you so pissed at me Ryan?" Troy demanded arms crossed, although Ryan's back was still facing him.

Slowly, Ryan stood straight and turned, glaring annoyingly at the brunette, and placed a hand on the bunk as if it was too much energy to stand on his own. "Because I _thought_ I was going to have an enjoyable night being fucked by my boyfriend, but instead, I'm stuck with _you_ in a basement."

Troy ran a hand through his hair nervously at the Drama King's explicit words, then realized his own previous error in wording. "Okay, that was a stupid question—"

"You think?" Ryan snapped, and turned to start unpacking again.

"—but what I _meant _to say was…" Troy spoke through his teeth as his frustration with the other boy began to rise again.

"Troy!" The blond stood up straight and turned to him again, an angry glare marring his face once more. "Why the hell did you want to spend the week in the same room as me anyway?"

"Because I wanted to get to know you and get along with you better!" Troy explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Yeah, nice try, that was _Chad's_ reason." Ryan interjected with a disbelieving face. "What was _yours_?"

"That was mine too!" Troy started unconsciously raising his voice.

"You sure you weren't just uncomfortable sleeping in the same building where your best friend and his boyfriend would be _sharing a room_?" Ryan emphasized the final three words, while taking a few small steps towards the jock.

"Of course not!" Troy yelled back, offended.

"Oh that's true, you do seem to _love_ interrupting us whenever we're in the same building, right?" The blond added sarcastically. "So, what was the real reason for the sudden interest in spending the week with your best friend's boyfriend?"

"Well, what else _could_ I have in mind Ryan—oh! To make you miserable, of course!" Troy shot back sarcastically, throwing his arms out. "So both you and I could have a _horrible_ vacation, yes, that's exactly why I chose to room with you instead of Chad!"

"So either way, you were still planning to break us up?" Ryan leaned against the bunks, crossing his arms as he asked his question.

"What are you talking about?" Troy demanded confused and angry.

"You just said your other choice to room with was Chad. So either way, the Golden Boy of East High had already decided beforehand that me and Chad were definitely not rooming together this week."

"Oh give me a fucking break Ryan!" Troy rarely cursed, but he was beyond frustrated and angry at the pale boy in front of him. "For the thousandth time—I accept you and Chad! Why can't _you_ just accept _that_?"

"Because I don't believe that! You haven't done _anything_ to prove it—still!" Ryan shouted back. "I don't know what you're thinking, but breaking up the couple you're supposedly trying to support _isn't_ the best way to show it in my book!"

"Well your boyfriend didn't seem to have much of a problem with it!" Troy argued back, throwing out a hand again in emphasis.

"Because the world would have to stop spinning before Chad would deny you anything!" Ryan took a step back, face pulled back in disbelief that Troy would even ask such a stupid question. "My god you're such an idiot…you don't know anything about him do you?"

"Hey—I know my best friend!" The basketball captain defended himself.

"Ha! Right, sure you do!" Ryan spat sarcastically, shaking his head.

"I do!" Troy insisted, and took a threatening step forward.

"Guys!" A different voice pleaded, causing both boys to whip their heads around towards the sad figure, standing at the open door to their room.

"Chad…" Ryan stated softly, his face suddenly looked ashamed and matched Troy's.

The darker boy looked at his best friend, then to his boyfriend, with a confused and sad expression. "What's going on?" Chad asked so softly, the other two almost didn't hear him.

"…sorry, we were just arguing over something." Troy mumbled, for some reason not wanting to tell his friend that the 'get along with Ryan' plan was not working out.

Apparently feeling the same way as Troy, Ryan then turned to his boyfriend and asked "did we wake you up?"

"Oh, no…I just forgot I left something in your bag earlier…" Chad motioned to the blue bag on Ryan's bunk, but his eyes were focused disappointedly on the blond's face.

"What's going on!" A worried feminine voice called, as hurried footsteps were heard rushing down the stairs. Gabriella suddenly appeared from behind Chad, peeking in with a concerned face at the boys. "I was leaving the bathroom upstairs and I heard shouting coming from down here!"

"It's okay Gabs," Chad quickly answered her with a soft voice that sounded strange coming from him. "They were just having a fight."

"A fight…" Gabriella repeated, and looked sadly at her boyfriend in the room as if telepathically asking him 'what happened?'

"Don't worry, it was just an argument, they're fine." Chad assured the girl, though halfheartedly. "Ryan, can I talk to you out here?"

"Of course!" Ryan attempted to say cheerfully, but his smile didn't reach his worried eyes, and as he walked over to his boyfriend, he very closely resembled a child walking over to their parent knowing they're about to get punished.

Once Chad and Ryan had walked out of the room and down the hall, Gabriella closed the bedroom door and asked Troy "what were you guys fighting about?"

"I don't even know!" Troy stated in frustration, sitting down on the bottom bunk of his bed and releasing a heavy sigh. "Nothing I do is right to him! He still thinks I don't approve of him and Chad! And I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to 'prove' that I do. I'm beginning to _not_ approve of them—not because they're both boys, but because Chad deserves someone better than _Ryan!_"

"Well, I don't think saying that's going to help the situation, Troy," Gabriella informed with a pitiful smile.

"I know…" Troy fell back on the bed with a groan. "I just don't know what else to do. Ryan just doesn't like me."

"You shouldn't give up on it. Troy, Ryan really is a sweet guy…" His girlfriend went to sit next to the boy lying down.

"No he's not!" Troy gave a harsh chuckle and sat back up. "He actually said that _I_ don't know Chad! Me—Chad's best friend! Since preschool! And how long has he been dating Chad? Two months? And before that I bet they practically never even spoke! _He's_ the one that probably doesn't know Chad!" Troy ranted, finally releasing the anger that had been building up in him all week.

"Well…" Gabriella started, looking down at her lap, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. "You _do_ have a point Troy…"

"Thank you!" Troy declared nodding.

"Ryan probably doesn't know the side of Chad that you went to preschool with and play basketball with and everything…" The Einsteinette continued as her boyfriend nodded energetically. "But Ryan has a point too."

"Exact—what?" Troy whipped his head around to stare confused at his girlfriend, whose gaze was now on him.

"Ryan probably knows a side of Chad that you don't either. You're Chad's best friend, and Ryan's dating him—he obviously doesn't treat you both the same way." Gabriella explained to Troy, looking directly into his eyes and once again sounding like a psychologist to him. "So I don't doubt Ryan knows some things about Chad that you don't. I mean, I'm sure I know a side of you that Chad has never seen. It doesn't make you a bad friend Troy, just like Ryan not knowing the side of Chad you see doesn't make Ryan a bad boyfriend."

"I guess…" Troy bit his lip and then stared at the carpet as he thought about what she was saying.

"The point is, you both care about him. So, maybe you two could bond over that."

"What?" The brown haired boy looked at his girlfriend confused.

Gabriella giggled at Troy's reaction. "What I mean is, if you can't get along on your own, one common ground you have is Chad. Try focusing on that—you know, instead of arguing about who knows him better, just talk about _him_. I guess what I'm saying is, try and see Chad through Ryan's eyes or just, understand their relationship better, and then maybe you'll be able to get along with Ryan better."

"I thought that's what I _was_ doing…" Troy sighed. "But I guess I can give it another shot."

"Good." Gabriella smiled at him, immediately making Troy feel proud at his words and smile in return. The dark haired girl then moved her hand to cover his, bringing a reassuring, simple, warmth into Troy's body. "I really think this whole thing was really a good idea, Troy. I mean, the trip, sharing the room with Ryan, it really _is_ proving you're supportive. Just…give time for Ryan to get used to it too, okay? I mean, I don't blame him for not trusting you right on the spot, given what he went through and everything. Just give him a while to get used to _you_. Then I'm sure you both with get along great!"

"What do you—uh!" Troy's question was cut off as the subject of the couple's conversation opened the door and walked back into the room.

"Oh, Gabriella, I didn't realize you were still in here…" Ryan paused in his steps and trailed off when he saw the dark-haired girl. He glanced back at the door and then to the frozen couple on the bed. "I'm sorry, do you want me to step out for a few more minutes…?"

"Oh no! It's okay." Gabriella brightly smiled at Ryan, causing the theatre boy to slightly grin back at her. Troy felt slightly jealous of this, at Ryan making her smile (although he was well aware he had nothing to be jealous of there, he couldn't help it), and of Gabriella being able to make the other boy smile without even really trying. "I was just leaving, so, I'll see you tomorrow Troy, Ryan. Goodnight!" She nodded to each of the boys cheerfully and walked out, closing the door behind her.

After Gabriella had left, the room was silent. Ryan went back to unpacking and arranging his belongings the way he wanted them in drawers and around the room. He did not glance at Troy, and he did not say a word about what he and Chad had talked about. Not knowing what to say, Troy decided to finish unpacking his stuff as well, stressing his mind once again for something to say. Suddenly, Ryan grabbed something off his bed and started walking towards the door.

"Hey, Ryan where're you—" Troy started to ask before the blond opened and closed the door, completely ignoring him. "Okay…nevermind then…" The basketball star mumbled.

Deciding this was as good a time as any, Troy decided to change into his pajamas when the Drama King didn't come back within two minutes. He didn't normally wear anything other than boxers to bed, but since they were on a mountaintop where it was decidedly colder, and he was going to be rooming with someone, he had brought something a little more conservative. Especially since now he was rooming with _Ryan_…although that sounded homophobic somewhat…he didn't believe Ryan would try something with him or anything like that, just he was sure if he was dressed down at all Ryan would make some sort of sarcastic comment about it.

Just as he finished pulling on his pajama pants and was picking up his shirt, Ryan walked back into the room without knocking. Dressed in tight, white, silk nightclothes, the blond looked the frozen, topless basketball player up and down from behind, before rolling his eyes in disinterest and shrugging before walking over to his bed. Purposefully facing away from the athletic boy, Ryan pulled up the covers and got ready to sleep.

Confused over what just happened, Troy stared at the blond's form in the bed, and then realized he was still holding his top. Pulling it over his head, he walked over towards the light switch, expecting some comment or look from Ryan, but received nothing. As he shut off the light, he realized he was somewhat grateful for the other giving him the silent treatment, because he didn't know what he'd say to him anyway.

Deciding to just worry about everything in the morning, Troy climbed into bed and laid down facing the wall, trying to fall asleep with thoughts of the dark haired girl who always reassured him. The one person he had total faith in on this entire trip.

* * *

I'm really hoping there didn't seem to be any hints of Tryan. That won't be happening in this fic. Troy-Ryan awkwardness, yes, but there is nothing romantic coming from it at all. 

Again, Sharpay and Taylor and Kelsi and everyone will be returning right in the beginning of the next chapter. ;) Hopefully it won't take too long to post, because I'm looking forward to writing it.

The Chyaness moments will also be on full-throttle again in the next chapter.

Please review this one though (and feel free to throw in predictions or suggestions...I've already planned to use one a certain reviewer gave, but I'm not saying who because I don't want to spoil it)!

And before I forget--The Chyan C2 Community has hit number 1 on the HSM list!! Which I am also in shock about...how can there be more subscribers to it than Troyella? Dare we hope some Disney executives happen to see this and give us some more fanservice in HSM3? XD Yes, this is the first thing I wonder when I notice it!

Anyway, please review! I apologize for the shortness of the chapter, but Ryan and Troy are both divas and their showdown needed to be its own chapter. And forgive my Troy torture, but it's not over yet.


	9. A Strange Sense of Normalcy

Hey everyone! I finally got this updated, I'm so proud of myself. This chapter was killing me, and I have no idea why, but I finally got it finished! I refused to make the next update on Unlikely until I finished this one, so I'm feeling quite accomplished right now. And if I haven't replied or reviewed any of your stories in the past couple days, this was the reason. I wasn't allowing myself to do anything else on the site until I finished typing this!

Big news for this story: it's been nominated for "Best Chyan Story" for the HSM Slash Fanfiction awards! I'm so honored about it...a bunch of my fics are up and I just want to thank everyone that nominated them! And if you'd vote for them, I'd be even more grateful--although honestly I'm really thrilled to just be nominated at all. I feel so special.

This chapter ended up totally different than what I had originally intended for it to be, but I'm pretty happy with it. Again, I went in making this chapter more "Chyan-y" since that was what most people requested for it, but again, somehow, it ended up being more about Troy (although in my defense, this story is in Troy's point of view, so any Chyan scenes must be witnessed by him...).

* * *

**My Best Friend's Secret**

**Part 9**: A Strange Sense of Normalcy

* * *

Troy awoke the next morning to an empty room. Ryan's bed was already made, and his side of the room extremely cleaned which was a stark contrast to Troy's still open bag with several things strewn along the floor from when Troy had been getting ready for bed the night before. He supposed he shouldn't be shocked that Ryan had not woken him up when he woke up, but he was still slightly upset at it anyway. It wouldn't have killed the Drama King to do so. Climbing down the ladder to the floor, he noticed the clock read that it was noon already. 

"I guess we're not skiing today…" Troy mumbled confused to himself, and groaned at the clothes Sharpay had picked out for him to wear that filled his bag. There weren't any majorly flashy outfits—nothing with sparkles or pink at least—but all Troy wanted was a simple pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, because he was cold. Letting out a heavy sigh, and finding apparently neither sweatshirts nor sweatpants make the list of "Sharpay's ski-trip-album-appropriate items," he pulled on some black pants and a black shirt with some fancy blue design on it. Troy didn't know much about fashion, or matching, so he figured Sharpay wouldn't yell at him if the pants and shirt were the same color. He then grabbed one of his coats to keep warm, before realizing the heat was on and he didn't really need it. Throwing it on the bed, he trudged still slightly sleepily down the hall and up the stairs, ready for food. Before he could think about how to patch things up with Chad and Ryan, he needed food.

The first thing he saw when he reached the top of the stairs was Zeke scraping something off of a plate into the garbage. Turning his head at the sound of Troy's walking, Zeke smiled at Troy's sleepy state.

"Good Morning Captain! Or rather, it's practically 'good afternoon' now, working on dinner tonight already!" Zeke laughed, gesturing to the fork and plate in his hands.

"…is there any breakfast left?" Troy questioned sleepily, rubbing the back of his head.

"We've got a bunch of muffins, I believe…" Zeke gestured to the counter. "Or if you want me to quick heat up some eggs or toast or something for you, I don't mind."

"Nah, that's alright…" The sleepy captain waved his hand moved towards the counter. He then conversationally stated "I thought Miss Montez was making us breakfast…"

"She did." Zeke laughed, and moved back towards the oven, stirring something. "And then she and Gabs went to get us ski lift tickets and rentals."

"I got them Zeke!" A small voiced called and rushed downstairs. Kelsi appeared at the foot, carrying some bags of vegetables in her small arms. "They were in Miss Montez's room. Oh, hey Troy."

"Thanks Kels," Zeke smiled warmly at the small girl as he took the bags from her arms.

"Hey Kelsi." Troy nodded, grabbing a chocolate chip muffin and paper plate, before going around the counter to sit on one of the high stools. Noticing something about her clothes, he then asked confused "isn't that Gabriella's shirt? I thought she got something like that the last time we went on that date at the mall…actually, I think I bought that for her…" The pink long-sleeved shirts had been one of few pieces Gabriella had pre-packed for the trip that Sharpay had approved of.

Kelsi's face turned red at Troy's eye for detail. Then again, if anyone was to remember the details of Gabriella Montez's wardrobe, even more likely than her mother, it would probably be Troy. The boy was incredibly smitten after all.

"Yeah…after Sharpay got all crazy about Taylor's clothes last night, Gabriella said that I could wear some of hers since she packed way more than she'll probably wear…" Kelsi explained softly with a smile. "Although Sharpay's probably going to go through my outfits later anyway and decide if anything I brought is good enough…"

"Speaking of the goddess…" Zeke smiled, before turning to Kelsi questioningly. "Are Sharpay and Taylor coming down anytime soon?"

"Oh, they're still sleeping too?" Troy suddenly asked between bites of his muffin, feeling less embarrassed that he wasn't the only one who slept through half the day.

"Not exactly…" Kelsi started, before the girls answered Troy's question themselves.

"Sharpay, I look ridiculous! There is _no_ way I'm going to wear this in front of people!"

"How dare you insult _my_ clothes! They are perfectly presentable! A whole lot more than that disgusting thing you were going to put on before!"

"It's called a _T-shirt_! And there was absolutely nothing wrong with it!"

"Please! It was at least a year old."

"And there was nothing wrong with it!" Taylor repeated, appearing into view at the bottom of the stairs, dressed in a bright pink blouse, with rhinestones and red and silver swirls, and black leggings with more silver swirls and star patterns. Her hair was pulled back in a glittery silver white scrunchie, and it appeared that if one looked closely enough, she even had some blush and more light makeup on. "There's no reason for me to be _this_ dressed up when I'm not even going outside today! I look ridiculous."

"You look hot." Sharpay snapped back at her, also coming into view, dressed again in an expensive looking pinkish glittery ski-outfit that was gripping her curves moreso than the one she wore yesterday. She also had her blonde locks pulled back in a red sparkly scrunchie with diamond-esque hanging earrings in her ears, and very meticulously done make-up. Troy couldn't help thinking even for Sharpay's usual over-the-top wadrobe, she looked like she was dressing to impress somebody. "And just because you aren't leaving the condo doesn't mean people aren't going to see you! Especially me."

"It was _your_ idea to share rooms!" Taylor shot back at the blonde. "You wouldn't have to worry about what I was wearing as much then if you had just roomed with someone else!"

"Exactly. Now you should thank me for making you look fabulous." Sharpay countered with a flip of her hair and turned to see what Zeke was making.

"What if I don't _want_ to look 'fabulous'!?" Taylor argued, making a silly imitation of jazz hands on the word "fabulous".

"Why wouldn't you want to look fabulous?" Sharpay turned back, with a genuinely confused look at the darker girl.

"Oh, forget it!" Taylor groaned and turned around, almost bumping into the small girl standing behind her. "Oh! Sorry Kelsi…"

"It's okay." Kelsi smiled nervously up at her, hoping but failing to not gain the attention of the Drama Queen on the other side of the dark girl.

"Kelsi!" Sharpay's voice rang like an alarm, echoing in the young songwriter's ears. The mountain lion slowly stalked around Taylor to corner Kelsi against the counter. "I didn't know you were here…"

"Yeah, I uh, came up with Gabriella last night…" Kelsi walked back as far as the counter behind her would let her, only to have Sharpay get closer to her on each step. "I called and asked if it was alright before hand, I mean I had my own stuff and everything…"

"I _thought_ it would be a little hypocritical of you to side with Jason…" Sharpay gave an evil knowing smirk down at the shorter girl. "Given our little experiment last year…"

"That was _one time!_" Kesli immediately protested, gaining everyone's attention in the room. "I'm straight! That was just different! And a long time ago!"

_Has everyone tried being gay but me…?_ Troy thought confused, absently wondering if he was missing out on something before shaking his head and focusing on his muffin again.

"What is she talking about?" Taylor tried to ask casually, but still ended up sounding somewhat anxious. "What did you guys do…?"

"Nothing! It was nothing! It's not important!" Kelsi nervously argued loudly. "The point is that I don't agree with how Jason reacted, so I'm here trying to be supportive."

"I remember doing it more than once…" Sharpay stated, staring superiorly at her nails.

"Sharpay!" Kelsi cried, cheeks reddening in embarrassment.

"What are you guys talking about…?" Zeke suddenly asked, turning confused away from his food to look at the girls, having only been half-listening to their conversation.

"Nothing! It's nothing! Just forget everything we just said," Kelsi insisted to Zeke, while glancing pleadingly at Sharpay. "Right?"

"Fine." The blonde girl shrugged, much to the disappointment of Taylor but great relief of Kelsi. Zeke simply shrugged with a smile and turned to happily continue working on his food, when Sharpay interrupted him again with another question. "Where's my brother?"

"He was gone when I woke up." Troy informed, slightly bitter still about not being woken up.

"I think he was here earlier." Zeke answered, with a pensive look on his face. "I remember him eating breakfast at least…not sure where he went after that."

"He was mentioning buying something or helping Ms. Montez pay for the lift tickets. He might've left with Gabriella and her mom." Kelsi added helpfully.

"So when are they going to be back?" Sharpay demanded, as if letting her brother go out without her had been a tremendous insult.

"Probably within an hour…" Zeke mentioned, looking at the clock above the stove.

Sharpay groaned in annoyance. "He should've told me he was leaving! What if I wanted to go too?"

"Even if he did, you probably wouldn't have noticed." Taylor muttered. "You were a bit preoccupied this morning, rearranging my outfits, remember?"

"I heard that!" Sharpay declared loudly, pointing at the other girl. "Now, what did you just say?"

"I thought you heard it." Taylor rose an eyebrow in confusion (and smugness, though she'd never admit it), crossing her arms.

"Well, that doesn't mean you can't repeat it!" Sharpay quickly recovered, and crossed her arms as well in defiance. "Now what did you say?"

A thought struck Troy when he realized someone else was missing from the kitchen. The playmaker looked around the kitchen as Taylor and Sharpay went back to arguing (ignoring Zeke who was trying to offer them some breakfast as he had Troy), heading to sit down on the couches in the lounge. Not seeing the person he was searching for, Troy turned around in his seat to check the living room behind him, only to find it also empty except for the girls. A perplexed look covering his face, he faced forward in his chair again and bit his lip in thought.

"What's wrong Troy?" Kelsi asked curious about the basketball star's odd movements.

"Where's Chad?" he asked slowly, wanting to talk to his friend now that he was more awake. "Did he leave earlier too?"

"I don't think so…"

"Chad was still out like a light when I left him this morning." Zeke told Troy with a laugh as he continued to work on his cooking. "I tried to get him up, but he just kept turning over and falling back asleep every time, so I just left him."

"Want me to go wake him up?" Troy quickly offered energetically, jumping at the chance to talk to his friend one-on-one about the night before.

"Sure…" Zeke stepped back surprised at the volume the other boy had asked the question.

"I'm on it!" Troy declared, dumping his plate in the garbage as he quickly jogged up the stairs.

In retrospect, given his luck with closed doors and his best friend, he should've probably seen what was about to happen next coming, but Troy was so focused on being able to talk to his friend about the night before and apologize for fighting with Ryan—and also his mind still slightly fogged from sleep—he didn't think twice swinging the door open and calling in "Chad!? You awake yet?"

The room was empty, as were the two beds—though there was a definite difference between them. Zeke's was scarily neat and made, while Chad's bed was messy, unmade, and blankets all over. There were clothes strewn on the floor on Chad's side of the room, and the light was out but the lamp next to his best friend's bed was on. There were probably more pieces of clothing than could be from just one person (and judging from Zeke's side of the room, _that_ boy was a neat freak), but Troy didn't connect that in his own mind at the time.

Instead, the playmaker stood confused for a moment as to where his friend could've disappeared to, until he noticed in the quiet of the upstairs that a shower could be heard running faintly. He turned around to face the hallway, across from which was the upstairs bathroom, and noticed the door closed. Figuring that his friend was the only person that could be in there, he crossed the hall and as he did, the mumbled sound of rushing water grew louder.

Knocking on the wooden surface, Troy called through the door "hey, Chad! Is that you in there?"

Hearing nothing in response, and figuring Chad must not be able to hear him through the closed door and water, the basketball captain opened the door to a rush of steam that temporarily blinded him. And in that blind moment, Troy realized that rushing water and hissing steam weren't the only sounds to be heard in the bathroom. As the warm air made his face suddenly moist, Troy realized he could hear…grunting, and groaning.

"Oh…oh, GOD you are amazing at this!!" a voice called out that Troy quickly recognized as his best friend's.

The steam then chose to start to slightly clear in the air, and Troy could see through to the shower (with slightly still-steamed glass) a dark body pushing a lighter body up against the tiled wall. The figures were moving, lost in the passion of their moment and though he was stunned to the point of a blank mind, Troy knew full well what the boys were doing. So as the darker figure leaned down towards the lighter's chest area (from what he could tell), Troy calmed himself, took a breath, and slowly began to close the door, hoping to for once leave without interrupting the couple. But as he was closing the door, he heard something that made him pause, and watch the blurred reflection of the unclear figures in the mirror above the sink.

Ryan's figure pulled Chad's back up his body and pulled him into what Troy could only assume was a heavy kiss. And Troy could hear smacking sounds as the boys began heavier touching and quicker kisses, as well as Ryan's voice repeating something that although Troy had already known it, it made Troy feel strange to actually hear the words said.

"I love you. I love you. I love you…" The Drama King could be heard harshly whispering to the taller boy as he kissed him all over his face and neck. "I love you so much Chad…I love you…"

Something about the blond boy's words hit Troy so hard he almost physically dropped to the ground. He didn't know if it was Ryan's voice, or the way he said the sentences or what…but unlike every other time Troy could remember Ryan Evans speaking to _him_…the theatre boy sounded just so…honest, and sincere. Like he really meant every single word he was saying to Chad. It wasn't acting…it was _Ryan_.

"I know. I love you too Ry…" Chad's voice answered, much lower and huskier than Troy had ever heard it, making the basketball captain realize that listening in any longer would be a real intrusion on his friend's private moment.

So Troy quietly shut the door the rest of the way, and stood outside staring at the floor for a moment, sorting out why he felt so strange after not walking in on his friend and his friend's boyfriend doing…things, in the shower, but hearing Ryan say those words so...meaningfully—without any dramatic tints or twists or sarcasm—but just straight from the heart honesty.

Then, Troy suddenly realized he was smiling.

"Troy! There you are, I was looking for you!" Gabriella's voice interrupted the brunet's train of thought. "Zeke said you came up a few minutes ago to wake Chad up…why are you smiling?"

Still in a bit of a daze, and grin still plastered on his face, Troy replied in a soft voice "Ryan loves Chad…"

"What?" Gabriella stepped closer to her boyfriend and pulled him away from the bathroom door to hear him more clearly.

"Ryan," Troy repeated, sounding more excited. "Ryan's really in love with Chad."

"I know Troy," the Einsteinette chuckled a little at her boyfriend's pointing out of the obvious. "That would be why they're dating…"

"I know that but, it's just…" Troy tried to explain his sudden revelation to his girlfriend without sounding idiotic or incredibly corny. Smile still painted on his face and excitement growing in his voice, he elaborated "Chad's in love with someone who really loves him back! I mean, like, equally! He loves Ryan just as much as Ryan loves him! I mean…I'm just…so happy for him, you know? I guess I didn't get it until now but…Chad's with someone who really loves him."

As Troy stared off into space, getting lost in his thoughts, Gabriella sighed contently and decided to not question her boyfriend's sanity or tease him about understanding so late in the game. After all, from the sounds of it, the dark-haired girl could surmise that Troy had _finally_ honestly accepted his best friend's boyfriend—whether he knew it or not. Gabriella wasn't going to discourage him.

"Yeah…it's really great for Chad, isn't it?" Gabriella smiled and reached out to hold her boyfriend's hand as they headed towards the stairs.

Troy turned to his girlfriend with eyes so warm the shorter girl suddenly found herself blushing. He leaned over to kiss her cheek before whispering "yeah, it really is. I'm really happy for him, that he found that person."

"_What_ are you two getting so lovey-dovey about?" a shrill blonde voice demanded from the bottom of the stairs, shocking the couple out of their previous romantic state.

"Sharpay! Don't interrupt them!" Taylor chastised the other girl's rudeness.

"What? We all already know they're dating! They don't have to suddenly show it for no reason! And certainly not on the stairs where everyone needs to walk!"

"Nobody's walking up the stairs right now, so let them have their moment!"

"No! Ryan was supposed to be with Gabriella and her mom, and he didn't come back with them, so I'm allowed to be worried and get upset when people aren't!"

"He's probably fine! And that's no reason to take your anger out on Gabriella and Troy!"

"Ryan's with Chad upstairs!" Troy interrupted the two, when suddenly an idea struck him. Quickly rushing down the last couple of steps, he walked up to the Drama Queen. "Hey Sharpay, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um…sure, Troy…" Sharpay answered confused as Troy pulled her aside. "I guess…"

Troy had decided to he wasn't going to 'get along' with Ryan Evans this trip. Instead, he was going to make it his mission this trip to _become friends_ with the boy his best friend was in love with.

Any way he could. He was going to prove to Ryan he supported him and Chad.

Because now he was completely sure himself that he did.

* * *

Troy is on a mission! ...and probably got the nicest treament I've ever given him in any fic chapter before... 

...well, at least for the moment. :)

Okay, just for the record, Kelsi's still straight. More on her sexual history in the next chapter, but this was the reason I brought her on the ski trip.

So, this chapter was probably the most difficult to work out so far, so I'm really looking for reviews on this one! It nearly killed me writing it...

Any corrections or suggestions you give I promise will be listened to! Just want to know what you're thinking.

Going to work on the next update for Unlikely now...


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